Chapter 12

(ELIZABETH'S POV)

She was glad they had made a good sum of money when they had reached Tortuga and even more so when she and her crew had won some of Vane's booty. Her crew had praised her for the game against Vane, who had gone livid from losing so much and had gone even paler when he had discovered that the Ranger had been stolen by Jack Sparrow. He had left so fast that he had almost tripped over some chairs and hit someone on his way out.

Her crew, along with her, had taken that as a signal to leave the place and Tai Huang had assured her that they could reach Martinique... Therefore, they had left Tortuga quickly and got away as far as possible.

They had been in the open sea for only a week when she started to get seasick... At first, she thought that maybe she had had a lot of alcohol during those days, since there was only rice wine and shouchuu in the cellar, but she didn't even drink that much. However, she knew that it was impossible that the trip was affecting her, since she had been on longer trips and she had never experienced anything like it.

On the tenth day, when she threw up again, Tai Huang approached her "Maybe we should stop?" he asked a bit carefully.

"... Don't even think about it, we still have to get to Martinique and we can't stop every now and then just because I have a stomachache." she answered, gulping and taking a deep breath through her nose.

"Have you thought that it is possible that it's not just an stomachache?" he asked, frowning.

Elizabeth could almost guess and know what he was referring to and, if she had to be honest, she had thought about it. She couldn't be sure, as it was still too early to tell, but she had been informed of the few signs that tended to happen and she knew she had a few.

"It's too early to tell." she answered finally, passing a hand through her hair "But it's possible, yes."

"Maybe if you rested a bit, captain… I'll inform you in a few hours, but it would be best in any case." he declared "If that gets worse, I would suggest stopping on the nearest island and looking for a doctor or a midwife."

"Fine, alright," Elizabeth sighed, but nodded "you're right. Thank you."

And she meant it… Tai Huang had been the one who had maintained his loyalty the most after what had happened in the Flying Dutchman and since then, he had respected her.

She ran a hand over her belly, carefully… Was she pregnant? She wasn't sure and, although she had prepared for that to happen, she didn't know what to think. She believed that she was mentally prepared for it, but had she been wrong? Should she end the baby's life? Was it right to do that when they were Will's too?

She felt like it was wrong of her after everything they'd been through together. She had loved Will… She still did to some extent, even if it wasn't the same and never would be again. But anyway, she loved him, didn't she?

Although, she knew that she had been selfish and that she still was: She had wanted the pirate life, she had wanted Will as a husband and her father with her, she had wanted a future with Will... And there she was, a pirate lord, a pirate king ... And without her father or Will in her future.

Did she deserved it? And if so, what was that on her belly? If she was pregnant, was it a blessing or a curse?

As she lay down on her bed, deciding to rest, she couldn't help her thoughts about Will and her feelings for him. She knew that she had hastily married him and, although she still loved him, she knew that several things had been left unanswered. After all, she had concealed her involvement in Jack's death and he had concealed his involvement with Sao Feng.

When she fell asleep, the whole world went dark, feeling the still, calm and silent sea.

Then the whole scene changed and she was back at her home, the one in Port Royal. She was able to recognize her room quickly and smiled, somewhat sad.

When she glanced out the window, she saw a tall dark-skinned woman gazing out to the sea. She had a dress that appeared to be the color of the sea in its most violent moments.

The woman then turned to look at her and her dark eyes turned a dark ruby for a second.

"Elizabeth Swann, wi meet again." she spoke.

And Elizabeth didn't know how, but she knew it in a second "Calypso…"

"Correct… Inna beginning, Mi did ask miself if mi shud cum. But mi did de same with de odda pirate lords an mi would be disrespecting yuh if mi didn't do de same, right?" She smiled, but it didn't look as if she was saying it in a good way "Yuh see, mi promised miself that mi would take revenge fi mi imprisonment, but Sao Feng a dead."

"But we freed you." she protested.

"Oh, did yuh?" She turned, fury in her eyes, which made Elizabeth almost fell to the bed of the room "Yuh were only interested enna yuh own benefit. Yuh a selfish, Elizabeth Swann, as much as di rest addi pirates around yuh."

"So I have to pay for something that someone did before I was born?" she asked, quite confused "That isn't even fair, Calypso."

"Wah duh yuh know bout fair?" the goddess said with disdain, turning in that moment "Was ih fair dat dey imprisoned mi, dat dey locked ah goddess enna ah mere mortal body?" She laughed a bit at that and Elizabeth bit her lip "Duh nuh worry, Elizabeth Swann. Mi respect William Turner as mi new captain an, as such, yuh will only have one punishment, but yuh will nuh be able tuh tell anyone."

Elizabeth gulped, but she stood proud and nodded "Very well, tell me what it is."

Calypso smirked "Ten years… If ten years have passed an yuh have been faithful tuh William, mi will remove de curse an he will be able tuh step on the ground an stay wid yuh, if yuh wish."

"What do you mean by faithful?" she asked, blurting out in fear "What if I need to get married, or, I don't know, I have needs?"

Calypso laughed at that "Duh nuh worry bout such insignificant tings. Mi meant yuh heart. If during those ten years yuh hand eh over tuh someone else, den William will spend de rest of his life as mi captain. Otherwise, mi will take de curse off him and find someone else fi de job."

Elizabeth frowned "So… My punishment is only to keep being faithful with my feelings towards Will?" she asked and shrugged "Alright, it sounds good and reasonable."

Calypso smirked, even more pleased "Wi will see if yuh tink de same ah few years latah, Elizabeth Swann."

A knock on the door woke her up, rudely, and she gasped as she woke up, but she cleared her throat and gave permission to enter, showing that it was Tai Huang.

"I'm sorry to bother you, captain, but you should come fast and see this for yourself." he said the moment he entered.

She raised an eyebrow, but put on one of her longest coats to cover herself, grabbed her hat, put on her boots, and left her cabin; Tai Huang followed closely behind her and gave her a spyglass. As they both approached the stern, Tai Huang pointed towards a small black dot followed by another that seemed slightly larger.

She took the spyglass from his hands and tried to search for both points, finding them almost immediately: The first, as she had almost suspected, was the Black Pearl and she could see Barbossa's flag at the top. The second she couldn't distinguish it at first, but, looking at the ship, her eyes widened at seeing the name.

"Queen Anne's Revenge…" she whispered.

"Yes, Blackbeard." Tai Huang nodded to her.

She turned again to keep watching the scene, with the Black Pearl trying to flee, but it didn't seem to move fast enough for the other ship, as they fired their cannons and hit the Pearl. She gasped at the events she was observing; the other ship obviously winning against Barbossa and she gulped when, at last, they were so far away that she wasn't able to see anything else.

"I hope everything will be alright…" she whispered, closing the spyglass.

The other one seemed to laugh "They would have to have the demon's luck for that."

Elizabeth nodded partially "Do you think Barbossa was trying to look for Jack?"

"Who knows…" Tai Huang shrugged and looked over the railing "But it seems they have lost some things along the way."

As soon as she looked down, she saw that there was a pile of debris on the way and on a wooden plank there was something that was glowing brightly and looked expensive. She looked at Tai Huang, somewhat pleased.

"Do we have something to help us get it?"

With the help of a few members of the crew, they were able to get hold of the shiny piece and she took it in her hands, seeing that it was a seashell, a large one. There were some symbols written on it, but no one was able to decipher them. Shrugging a bit, she decided to keep it in her cabin.

After another week that, luckily, wasn't spent all the time throwing up off the railing, they finally reached Martinique and Elizabeth was almost glad that her feet hit the ground and that her stomach seemed to settle.

She spent a few hours around the shops, meeting a Chinese girl on the street who was looking for a refuge and, when she took her to show her the Empress, Tai Huang appeared, followed by the rest of the crew, shouting in Chinese like a madman and practically dragging her onto the ship. Since she had been almost attached to the other girl, the two of them suddenly were on the ship.

She shook her head, pushed the other girl to her cabin, telling her to go inside, as she approached her first mate, with an inquiring look.

"What's wrong? Are there English troops around here or is there someone here who is famous as a pirate?" she asked a bit worried.

Tai Huang shook his head "I just heard from a man here that gets information from Singapore and he told me we have problems. Yang Liu has started creating trouble around the city and is trying to gain control of the place."

"Who is that Liu?" she asked, frowning "Is he such a big threat? Can't we just go and win against him?"

He clicked his tongue "He was a partner of Sao Feng but they differed in a few points… And yes, he can be a great threat, as he has some men backing him. It won't be that simple, captain, and I don't know if we'll be forced to take other measures."

"What type of measures?" she looked at him, almost agitated.

He took a deep breath "Any type of measure… Even the one that you're probably thinking." He shrugged "It's too soon to know, we'll find out more in a few months and I have already sent a message to our potential associates, but we'll get to know more in Brazil, surely."

Elizabeth looked somewhat concerned, but nodded. She trusted Tai Huang. She had trusted him all that time and she would trust him on that matter as well. So, she entered her cabin and once again, they set sail, Martinique getting smaller and smaller until they couldn't see her anymore.

• ──────────── ✾──────────── •

Dictionary from Patois to English:

Elizabeth Swann, wi meet again. → Elizabeth Swann, we meet again.

Correct… Inna beginning, Mi did ask miself if mi shud cum. But mi did de same with de odda pirate lords an mi would be disrespecting yuh if mi didn't do de same, right? [...] Yuh see, mi promised miself that mi would take revenge fi mi imprisonment, but Sao Feng a dead." → Correct... In the beginning, I did ask myself if I should come. But I did the same with the other pirate lords and I would have been disrespecting you if I didn't do the same, right? [...] You see, I promised myself that I would take revenge for my imprisonment but Sao Feng is dead.

Oh, did yuh? [...] Yuh were only interested enna yuh own benefit. Yuh a selfish, Elizabeth Swann, as much as di rest addi pirates around yuh. → Oh, did you? [...] You were only interested in your own benefit. You're selfish, Elizabeth Swann, as much as the rest of the pirates around you.

Wah duh yuh know bout fair? [...] Was ih fair dat dey imprisoned mi, dat dey locked ah goddess enna ah mere mortal body? [...] Duh nuh worry, Elizabeth Swann. Mi respect William Turner as mi new captain an, as such, yuh will only have one punishment, but yuh will nuh be able tuh tell anyone. → What do you know about fair? [...] Was it fair that they imprisoned me, that they locked a goddess in a mere mortal body? [...] Don't worry, Elizabeth Swann. I respect William Turner as my new captain and, as such, you will only have one punishment, but you will not be able to tell anyone.

Ten years… If ten years have passed an yuh have been faithful tuh William, mi will remove de curse an he will be able tuh step on the ground an stay wid yuh, if yuh wish. → Ten years... If ten years have passed and you have been faithful to William, I will remove the curse and he will be able to step on the ground and stay with you, if you wish.

Duh nuh worry bout such insignificant tings. Mi meant yuh heart. If during those ten years yuh hand eh over tuh someone else, den William will spend de rest of his life as mi captain. Otherwise, mi will take de curse off him and find someone else fi de job. → Don't worry about such insignificant things. I meant your heart. If during those ten years you hand it over to someone else, then William will spend the rest of his life as my captain. Otherwise, I will take the curse off him and find someone else for the job.

Wi will see if yuh tink de same ah few years latah, Elizabeth Swann. → We will see if you think the same a few years later, Elizabeth Swann.

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&&& A.N.: I know, I promised I would update each week or so, but my grandma got a bit of a stomachache and it wasn't possible (everything is fine, it wasn't that serious!).

In any case, here is the promised chapter :) Elizabeth, in her full glory!

I think that it'll be the last time Calypso will appear because, as much as I enjoy writing her, it takes a lot of time to research her dialogue (Side note: Of all the dialogues I've made with Calypso though, this one is my favorite so far ^^ Love all the little details I put here!)

It's also nice to see how everything will meet slowly the end I'm trying to fulfill, even if I'm still writing this story hahahah

Around the 15th chapter you'll finally enjoy Vane's POV, which will bring some new perspectives and some things that you, as readers, can know heheheh

Drop down below if you want your theories, ideas and whatever and, as always, thank you to everyone who is following the story; the favs, follows, kudos, stars, comments... Everything! I'm always thankful when I see a notification and knowing that someone in some part of the world is enjoying this story, even if not everyone says so! ^^ (I don't mind because as someone who has stage fright, I understand that feeling).

Lots of love, take care with your health and see you next week! &&&