It was good to be back on the black pearl again and tearing through the waves as if scissors cutting roughly at paper. Swaying to the sea's constant and familiar rhythm that beat day and night. Jack glanced over to Will, who gloomily looked out at the beautiful sea before him, Jack never thought that villagers and civilians understood the sea's immense beauty however Will was an exception due to his pirate heritage. Jack's thoughts were interrupted by the jingle of his shackles that connected him to that blasted young woman.

Lilly had seated herself beside the Captain and rummaged through a tattered brown bag that was slung over her shoulder until she found what she'd been searching for, an old leather bounded book that's golden trim had once been bright and luxurious but now had faded into a dull shimmer.

"What yer got there?" he questioned, his curious nature shinning through yet again.

"Just a book."

"Oh really?" he leant over and attempted to look at it's contains however Lilly snapped it shut and glared at him. "What?" he exclaimed innocently.

"You can't read this."

"An' why's that?"

"Can you read Spanish or Latin?" she questioned raising one of her slender dark eyebrows at him.

"Erm... no."

"Well then you can't read it!" sealing her point with a smug smile before opening he book and scanning its pages. Jack turned his attention back to sailing the Pearl.

"Don't worry Will as sure as I can be we'll get 'er back safe and sound." Reassured Gibbs as he could see the boy's spirits where so low they'd be under the planks of wood making up the ship's deck. Will simply gave a weak smile and a little nod as a reply. "I'm sure the cap'n didn't mean to give yer that ring. He didn't know."

"Yes. I know that."

"Besides we're sailing on the fastest ship in the whole of the Caribbean there's no way we can lose that ship!"

"I hope so Gibbs otherwise it won't just be that girl who'll wants Jack dead."

"Ah, ye mean Lilly the Skull." Will nodded which followed with a slight pause before he questioned.

"Lilly the Skull? What kind of name is that?"

"Pirate one of course. Surely yer heard of 'er. She's the most feared female pirate in the entire Caribbean."

"She's a pirate?" Will questioned proving that his knowledge of the pirate world wasn't as vast as he might have thought. "She doesn't really look like one. I mean the way she dresses suites her Spanish inheritance." He commented peering at the young woman sat with her nose in an old and worn book.

"Aye but when someone gets on the wrong side of her she's isn't as sweet and innocent as yer may think."

"So why Skull?"

"See that big sliver ring on 'er finger?"

"Yes.?" said Will as he glazed at the chunky piece of jewellery on the girl's middle finger of her right hand; it appeared to have some sort of skull engraved into it.

"Tales have it that she heats up the metal of her ring until its blazing hot and then she brands her victims and enemies with it, usually on the forehead or neck so that they're forever marked with a skull, which will remind them of their punishment and encounter with 'er."

Will's mouth nearly dropped open in disbelief as the girl before didn't seem the type you'd do such inhuman things to people, Will didn't even believe Gibbs about her being a pirate.

"A ha!" exclaimed Lilly abruptly causing Jack to jump in shock of the sudden outburst. "I knew it sounded familiar!" she hurriedly rose to her feet.

"What did? Yer parrot like exclamations?" teased Jack. Lilly swiftly clipped him around the head as a punishment for his insult.

"This curse that Will's fiancée is under." Will's ears pricked when he heard Lilly's voice form the words. He briskly paced up to the girl and the pirate that was linked to her.

"What? What about it?!" "It's an old tale my Grandpa used to tell me as a child. I never thought it was true." She paused briefly before continuing, "She's under a curse known as 'The curse of Macalania'"

"Which means?" questioned Jack gesturing for Lilly to elaborate.

"Long ago there was a rich and powerful woman known as Lady Macalania. She was obsessed with gold; she loved how it gleamed when the light hit it or how smooth it felt. She dressed from head to toe in it. Her hair had golden ribbon intertwined into it, she wore a golden powder over her eyes and her nails covered in gold a foil. The look was often completed with a golden dress that shimmered dramatically whenever the smelliest amount of light touched it. This woman was so utterly fixated on gold that she offered her soul to dark spirits in able for her to forge a ring that would seal her in gold forever. She had a terrible fear of growing old so she demanded that when she reached the age of thirty that the ring would be placed on her finger and she'd be immortalised as a gold statue. However a few years after her decision was made there was a gigantic earthquake causing a landslide and sweeping her palace into the ocean. The ring was destined to lied there on the seabed, lost and forgotten for all eternity." Lilly had loved that tale when she was a child and no one could tell it was brilliantly clear as her beloved Grandfather. "My guess is that the Pirates you stole that treasure off Jack, had found the treasure of Macalania. Do you still have any of it?"

"Think so." Said Jack as he rummaged his pockets and pulled out three golden coins that shimmered in his dirt-covered hands.

"Yep. These coins are Spanish, which means the ring is from the same treasure."

"How do we reverse it?" Asked will, interrupting Lilly's line of through.

"I didn't know there was a reversal."

"There must be!"

"I'll check." She said, "However it may take sometime I have a fair amount of books to look through. We should mainly concentrate on her rescue first." Lilly informed trying to put Will at ease.

Lilly's tale telling had obtained the attention of the whole crew who had either paused in whatever task they were doing or they had drawn closer as if to hear it better. Jack instantly noticed this. "What yer all hoverin' 'bout for?! Get back to work ye mangy blighters!" He bellowed. The crew scurried around busying themselves.

Lilly turned her attention back to her book, flicking through its yellowed pages. Jack watched her until an image in the book caught his concentration.

"Look's familiar." He mumbled gazing at a drawing of an emerald jewel with a silver dragon wrapped around it as if guarding the gem.

"It should be you stole it from me!"

"Oh yer..." He laughed nervous hoping she wouldn't become angered. "I can't believe you sold it. That pendant has been pasted down from generation to generation throughout my family... I suppose I was partly to blame." She sighed, "After all it was in my care. I should have never let it out of my sight."

Jack yet again felt guilt rise up he pondered if pirates were ever supposed to feel remorse for the outrageous numbers of crimes they committed.

"Listen after this 'hole ordeal is over you and I will go to Tortogua and see if we can trace it from there."

"Someone will have it. I know. I can feel it and you of all people know what happens if it fells into the wrong hands!"

"Yeah, hence the reason why I threw yer off yer boat." Lilly heaved a heavy sigh and turned her attention back to her book before adding,

"My grandfather would be so ashamed."