It was eerily quiet as the Flying Dutchman sailed through the fog. At the helm stood a young woman with red hair. A monkey was on her shoulder and her sea blue eyes were keen. Next to her was a tall grizzled man with grey hair and green eyes.
As they at last came out of the fog Captain Narcissa Davis took out a spy glass pointing it in the direction of the oncoming shipwreck. The ship might have once been nice but it was nearly entirely destroyed with holes and splintered wood. She could vaguely make out the forms of dead bodies on the deck.
"What do you think Mister Flint?" Narcissa asked her first mate handing him the glass.
"The same as the others, a complete massacre."
"Seven times Flint. We'd better hope we have some survivors to tell us what the hell is happening."
"That would be preferable," the older man agreed. Narcissa turned to the rest of her crew.
"All right! You lot know the drill! Over to the ship, find any survivors, and if the latter is true bring them to the deck!" Without question the crew immediately jumped into action. Narcissa was pleased with the mostly seamless way her crew worked. A little while later a crew member waved a red scarf. Narcissa checked her nurse's watch which hung round her neck along with the Aztec medallion.
"Seven minutes, I'd say that's a record." She and Flint walked over the plank layed between the two ships and onto the deck of the ruined boat. Narcissa picked her way through the bodies, careful not to tread on them. Even corpses deserved respect.
"We've found two Captain," said one ruddy faced crew member.
"About damn time," she muttered before saying more loudly "Thank you Mister Rush." Narcissa turned to gaze at the two men. The first was a men dressed in black with the white dog collar of a priest. The man had dark hair and his eyes were hazy with fear and defiance as he clutched a rosary.
"Back you she-devil from hell!" he called. Narcissa remained unfazed.
"Well, I can't say I'm from heaven but hell's a bit far," she quipped as she stared down at him. "Now I do have a question for you if..."
"No! I will not listen to your poisoned words! You have defied the law of god in your survival and I shall not be tempted by you." Narcissa sighed it seemed her reputation as an undead pirate Captain proceeded her.
"You aren't getting anything out of that one Captain," said Flint glaring at the man who had insulted his Captain.
"Fair enough," agreed Narcissa she took out a knife and held it to the man's throat.
"I admire your dedication to your beliefs and you commitment in the face of death. But I don't stand with being insulted." she swiftly slit the man's throat and his body collapsed.
Narcissa now turned to look at the second soul she had believed him a man at first glance but looking closer he was simply a boy of no more than 14 if that. He had light brown hair and his brown eyes were wide. There was also a slit deep in his stomach which was clearly the cause of death the flow of blood stemmed by the temporary limbo imposed by the Dutchman.
Narcissa felt her heart (metaphorically speaking) go out to the poor child who was curled up in a corner with two of the Dutchman's men on either side of him. She sighed.
"Back off lads," she ordered. The men stepped away and she moved closer. The boy winced still shrinking away. Narcissa knelt on one knee removing her wide brimmed hat so she no longer towered over the boy.
"I'm not going to hurt you dear," she said softly. The boy still looked slightly scared and suspicious.
"What's your name?" she said her tone still gentle.
"H...Henry," he stuttered out weakly.
"Henry. You know that's my nephew's name," she told him with a small smile. "He wasn't far from your age when I last saw him." Henry seemed to relax slightly.
"Now Henry. I'm not going to tell you everything is going to be alright. Because the truth is you are dying. Unfair as it is." She paused. Narcissa was torn about making the offer to serve on the Dutchman to Henry. The boy would be 14 for 100 years which hardly seemed fair. But at the same time it was an escape and would eventually give him a second chance.
"I can offer you a reprieve. If you agree to serve abord my crew for 100 years I can save your life. But do think on it carefully. For you will stay as you are for those 100 years. Do you understand?" she asked. The boy bit his lip.
"You can really save me?" he asked brokenly. Narcissa nodded.
"Yes." The boy seemed to consider for a moment and then nodded.
"I will serve." Narcissa held out her hand to him and he took it. As she helped pull him up and replaced her hat a shimmer seemed to pass over the boy and his wounds disappeared.
"Welcome about the Flying Dutchman Henry." She then turned back to the crew.
"Alright gents lets get back over and do our duty!"
"You come with me," she told Henry as she strode back over to the Dutchman the young boy following in her wake.
PotC
Narcissa brought Henry to the Captain's cabin. Flint beind both of them. In the days of Davy Jones the cabin had held a large organ which Narcissa had with some difficulty removed. Now warm mahogany bookshelves lined two of the walls. Near the door were three miniatures one of Elizabeth, one of Will, and one of their young son.
In the center of the room was an elegantly carved wooden desk with feet like claws and there was a matching tall, straight-backed chair carved with images of sirens and ships and upholstered with rich red cloth. A less ornate wooden chair sat on the opposite side. Narcissa now sat down in the chair behind the desk and fixed Henry with a firm but kind stare.
"I'll let the men fill you in on specific duties but the gist of it here is that I run a tight but fair ship. Serve me well and we shouldn't have any problems."
"Yes Ma'am...I mean Captain," said Henry. Narcissa nodded.
"Good. Now my first order to you to tell me what exactly happened to that ship you were on," the boy paled and she gestured for him to take a seat.
"Take your time lad," said Flint from the corner. The boy took a deep breath and then began his tale.
"It was a normal day like any other. Suddenly we caught sight of a strange unearthly looking ship. Before we could do anything a hoard of specters rushed onto our ship. I'm not sure if you'll believe me when I describe them the..."
"Ghosts?" said Narcissa. "I'm an undead Captain there's little I won't believe. The boy coughed.
"Sort of. Their faces looked cracked and broken. They could run across the water and walk through things but they could do real damage like..." he trailed off looking down at where the large gash in his belly had been.
"I see. Who was leading them?" she asked deciding to try and spare the boy as much emotional turmoil as possible.
"He said his name was Salazar." Narcissa noticed Flint breath in sharply.
"And what was Salazar after?" she prompted.
"Jack Sparrow." said Henry. Narcissa swore frustration bubbling up inside her.
"Damn that man!" Captain Jack Sparrow was a brave man with a decent streak of good amongst his selfishness. But boy did he know how to inadvertently drag other people into his problems. Seeing Henry's startled look she took a deep breath.
"Right, anything else?"
"He let one man live to carry on the tale but he said the rest of us could die," said Henry quietly.
Narcissa gave him what she hoped was a comforting smile.
"Thank you, Henry. Mister Rush!" she called loudly and said pirate opened the door.
"Yes Captain?"
"Geoffrey help young Henry get settled, will you?" While giving simple orders Narcissa used her crew's last name but she'd found it was easier to make a connection with your crew if at least when speaking one used first names.
"Sure, thing Captain. Come along boy," the man said and with an encouraging nod from Narcissa Henry left. Once the door was closed Narcissa turned to Flint.
"He let someone go and it WASN'T the CHILD? And they say I'm bad."
"To be fair Captain that might be a bit of Jones's bad reputation carrying over," said Flint. Narcissa huffed and poured some brandy into a glass on the table.
"So who is this Salazar fellow? l saw how you reacted Gregory." Flint raised an eyebrow and sat down pouring himself a drink.
"You really don't know?"
"Should I?" asked Narcissa.
"Well, he was only the most vicious bastard of a pirate hunter on the seven seas. They called him El Matador Del Mar."
"The Butcher of the Seas," translated Narcissa glad Weatherby had made her study the romance languages.
"Yes. He's the reason yours truly joined the club of the dearly departed," Flint sounded slightly bitter.
"Salazar killed you?" asked Narcissa. While she had made it her business to find out the stories of each of her crew members Flint had always been cagey and she'd respected his privacy.
"The Silent Mary overtook the ship I was on. I ended up getting skewered by Salazar after trying to defend my wounded Captain."
"I'm sure it was a valiant attempt," Narcissa said. Flint was slow to trust but incredibly loyal as she had long since learned. He'd helped her get accustomed to captaining the Dutchman. Flint gave a stiff nod in response to her words.
"So, what happened to him?"
"Well Jones hardly gave us a news bulletin about the outside world but given the boy say's they are like ghosts I'd say someone got the better of him."
"And given the grudge that someone was Captain Jack Sparrow," sighed Narcissa.
"Looks like it. So what are you going to do?" Flint queried. Narcissa stood and walked over to the miniatures.
"Some of those ships we found weren't just pirate ships. So Salazar is killing indiscriminately now. Which means that there's a lot of unnecessary death going around. But worst of all that means my family is in danger." She raised a hand to touch the picture of Henry Turner.
"Elizabeth said in her last letter that Henry went away to sea. Add on that my father is a pirate also sailing the seas at the moment and that's two of the most important people in my life in danger."
"So what's your dilemma?" asked Flint.
"I suppose I can possibly justify getting involved with this as protecting the seas and thereby not totally abandoning my duty. But I don't want to be like Jones and pull my crew into a personal fight or risk my decision getting you lot recursed." Flint stood.
"I admit when I saw how young you were I wasn't sure if you would be mature enough to keep to the job. But you proved a stronger Captain than I imagined. Add on the fact that you seem to genuinely care about us and I'd say you are the polar opposite of Jones."
"Thank you, Gregory." she said softly.
"That crew will follow you to the ends of the Earth and not just out of obligation. Your family may be the main reason but it isn't the only one. So if you think it's worth the risk I can guarantee we'll back you."
Narcissa paused weighing her options. She'd never run from a challenge before and she had no intention of doing so now. She could stand by and do nothing letting fate take it's course or she could jump back into the fray. Finally she turned back to face Flint.
"Then it's back into battle we go," Flint smirked.
"That's the Captain I know. Where do we start?" Narcissa returned the smirk.
"With a visit to my father."
Author's Note: I'm BACK! This is the fourth and final book in my Narcissa Barbossa series. Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far. If you enjoy my stories PLEASE PLEASE leave a note in the comments below with your thoughts. It means more than you know. Until next week!
