A/n: Hey thanks for reviews. I will watch those commas, I probably missed
some in here too . . . sorry for any messed up grammar really, I hope you
will keep reading even if there is. I don't think this is going to turn
out as a Mary-sue, I wasn't going for that, I really hope it doesn't. Well
on to the story. (I have gone on pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland
once a week for the past 3weeks, lol, I got a pass, I ride it when ever I
can, I love that ride so much.)
Disclaimer: see prologue
Chapter one:
Caroline was awakened by a sound outside her window. It was like a bird humming a tune but, this was even more enchanting than that. She sat up in her bed, it was late and her mother must not have woken her for dinner . . . "that's very odd, she rarely lets me get away with things like this . . . so far I have not gotten into any scrapes about skipping dinner or skipping Mark's visit . . ." she said to herself wondering. The moon was bright in the night sky and shimmered it's reflection upon the sea. Caroline could hear the waves crash on the shore and then she would hear the faintest most beautiful music she had ever heard before.
She was being called. Called to the ocean, called by a voice she had yet to discover coming from someone . . . something in the water thought to be myth. A mermaid. A girl not much older than Caroline, miles away, somewhere in the vast waters, was the one making such seducing music. Caroline walked out into the night air, cool and refreshing on her skin, she had taken her leather bag, she never left alone without it. The coin and chain she had fastened on her neck was still there and as the singing grew stronger the glow on the coin did too. Though Caroline hadn't seemed to notice the glow being propelled off her smooth, white bodice.
When Caroline neared the sandy beach in front of her the coin seemed to lift of her neck as if weightless. This startled her a bit but, the music kept her calm. Caroline closed her eyes and as she felt the cool water rush upon her toes she smiled. Then she was lifted from the ground and she hovered there, just barely an inch from the sand, her whole body engulfed by the coins glow, the music now stronger than ever. With a jolt she was spun higher into the air, there was no way to escape its pull.
Caroline relaxed, unsure of what was coming. Suddenly her legs seemed to tingle, she looked down on them as to her unbelief they became a fin. In just one swirl of blue-green light her legs had gone from flesh to fin. She was dazzled by it all and as the singing slowed she fell to the ground, halfway into the water. Her leather bag still hanging from her shoulder, the coin now resting on her neck like nothing had happened. It took Caroline a moment or two to fully realize the reality of her situation, then it dawned on her; she was half fish, she was a . . . "mermaid" she breathed.
The moon shown down on her slivery blond hair, now blonder than ever in the moon's light. Caroline fluttered her tale in the water, splashing salty drops onto her breast. She was completely naked and her thin, white piece of clothing she wore as nightgown lay sprawled out in the sand, near where she had fell from the sky. She couldn't exactly fathom what had just happened. Though as she slipped into the ocean that night she thought perhaps she would never have to see Mark ever again, perhaps she would never have to be a proper lady again.
***
"Captain, where nearing some coves!" a man yelled toward his captain.
"Starboard side?" His captain returned.
"Aye, Cap'n." the man now said at his captain's side. "You think you could explain to me Jack what that," the man pointed at the coin dangling from his neck, "has to do with our newest expedition?" A cocky grin grew across Captain Jack Sparrow's face.
"Aye, I could . . ." He told his crew mate. "This coin here, it's goin' to take us to find treasure but, before we can find treasure we must find the other coin. It's identical to this one and when they join each other they reveal where this treasure is. Now the other coin is in possession of some lady. The lady can turn into a mermaid when ever she wants with it but, I doubt she knows this. . . I need her to find the treasure, savvy?"
"Aye, 'tis" said the crew mate. He was a burly man and had a graying beard suggesting he was a few years older than Jack sparrow, his captain. Jack gave his trademark grin once again and ordered the crew to make ready to drop anchor for a day, he was in no rush. There paths would cross when the time was right.
***
Caroline was tired from swimming so much. She didn't know how to change herself back to a normal woman. She floated on the surface of the water looking for anything interesting, there was nothing. Just when Caroline was about to swim away she was splashed from behind. "Ah!" she uttered a small scream of surprise. She turned to see what it was and saw the tip of a fish like tale. "That's strange . . ." Caroline said to herself before she dove under the rolling sea. She searched for a few minutes and then was tapped from behind.
Caroline quickly threw her head over her shoulders to see who had been playing tricks on her. It was a beautiful mermaid like herself, except this one had brown hair and blue eyes, instead of green. Her fin was a deep red, unlike Caroline's who's was a bright blue-green, like the color of turquoise. "Hello, Caroline." She said. This surprised Caroline, how did she know her name?
"How do you know my name and who are you?" she asked in return shaking her head. The red tailed mermaid swam upward toward the surface and Caroline followed. When the red tailed mermaid reached the surface she threw her hair back and breathed the fresh air. Caroline admired her and waited for her to speak again.
"I'm Marissa, I know your name because I needed a friend; it gets lonely out here. I left the coin for you after finding out the other one had been found by a sea captain, can't recall the name. I was the first person to ever discover the secret of these coins, me and my fiancé, after he died I decided to become a mermaid full time never recovering his coin." She told Caroline.
"I'm sorry for your loss. It's nice to meet you but, how did you know I loved the water so much? And you can change back if you have the coin?" She asked Marissa slightly confused.
"Well, I hadn't left the sea for over a year and I needed a friend, I wasn't sure you loved the sea as much as I but, I had watched you for a couple of days and decided I wanted you as my friend, your not like most women today . . . your different. Now that you have the coin you can come and go from the sea when ever you please . . . Once I anyone gives up possession of the coin the next time they touch water they are forever transformed into a mermaid."
"So you're saying that the rustling in the bushes was you and now you are unable to reform into a human because you gave up possession of the coin to me? . . . You can't go back even if I gave you the coin?" Caroline asked checking.
"Yes, I'm a mermaid for the rest of my life now. You and the sea captain though . . . you can find a treasure so amazing I can't imagine what it is like . . . I am here to help you and him find it."
"So you gave up a treasure worth more than anything in the world for a part time friend?"
"A sailor once told me, 'not all treasure is silver and gold m'lady.' It isn't and my true treasure is gone, I don't want money . . . I just want a friend."
"So why didn't you just keep the coin and go back to being a human?"
"Because . . . I can't, I don't belong there . . ."
"I guess we can be friends then but, you must show me how to change form. Oh and explain why there is a marking of a pirate on this coin." Caroline told her.
"I will show you, it's simple. Close your eyes and think of a sandy beach, a town, some place on land. Then hold the coin in your hand and believe you are there. You will go through the same steps to change back into a mermaid."
"And about the marking of a pirate on the coin?"
"Ah, yes, the original owner of the treasure was pirate, his name being William Cape. Some say he haunts the sea looking for the treasure he died over, looking for his lost love, a mermaid he was forbidden to see. He created these coins before he died so that mermaids would still live on and someday someone would recover his treasure, for them and for him . . ."
"I despise pirates!" Caroline scowled.
"You best get use to 'em, they populate the ocean immensely. In fact they are usually the people who spot us and fall in love with us because we can do so many wonderful things. They actually don't use us as there whores." Marissa tried to change her outlook before she even knew why Caroline disliked them. "Why, anyway?"
"Because they killed my father! They ruined my family . . ." she looked away from Marissa.
"I'm . . . sorry . . ." Marissa told Caroline, she really had had no clue.
"So where are you headed . . .?" Caroline changed the topic.
"To find the other coin now that you've managed to find me . . ."
"I see, I suppose I will be coming with you then." The two had started to swim along side each other Marissa leading Caroline along. Suddenly she stopped abruptly.
"You must go now!" Marissa yelled to Caroline. "Go!" she yelled once more to tell her there was no time to explain. Caroline didn't understand what was going on until it was too late. A shark was coming towards the two; Marissa grew stiff and breathed deep under the water. Caroline's necklace flashed at the shark's eye, luring it to come to them in particular. Marissa surly knew how to out smart a shark, right?
It was blood thirsty and chased the two as Marissa tried to make it follow her. It didn't work he wanted Caroline; she had the necklace that caught his eye. Caroline swam franticly and then Marissa heard her scream, she had been trying to catch back up to them. "No . . ." she managed to get out in a hard attempt considering the rock size lump in her throat. Marissa thought for sure she was dead . . . When she found her though Caroline was bleeding terribly. She was alive but, unconscious and there was no way Marissa could lift her to the surface alone and even if she could, what would she do with her after she had done that. She needed to find help; fast.
*** Later that night Marissa came upon some small, few islands with tiny, coves in close range of each other. She heard a party going on, then after she swam a little farther she saw a pirate ship, lit with candles as joyful laughter carried of the ship. When Marissa had reached the side of the ship she could now read the name inscribed on the wood finish. It read "The Black Pearl" in fancy lettering. Her sails where grayed but, you could tell they had once been black. The ship was most defiantly old but, beautiful after having aged quite a bit all the same.
Marissa knew it would be hard to get the drunken pirates to see her and not decided they had truly lost there minds on account of the rum. She looked for the captain and decided that he must be the man in the aged tri-corner hat, his strange hair falling from underneath it. He was half in the shadows, half not and far away from where Marissa floated in the water. She would have to sing . . .
Marissa took a deep breath and hoped for the best, little did she know the captain was Jack Sparrow and the man who had found the missing coin.
"I am a creature of the Fey
Prepare to give your soul away
My spell is passion and it is art
My song can bind a human heart
And if you chance to know my face
My hold shall be your last embrace. . ."
She sung with such beauty by the time her song ended and she had opened her eyes with the last note, every man of "The Black Pearl" was at the edge looking down on her. Their mouths gaping open like dogs painting in the summer heat. One man yelled out "Look it's a mermaid!" then another said "My god! She is!" and then she heard his voice. The half slurred voice of Captain Jack Sparrow; a voice she never could have comprehended hearing once again . . . "A Mermaid is she?" he asked himself, a smirk playing at his lips. He had though this was his woman, the one with the other coin he had been looking for.
Jack squinted his eyes even more; it was hard to see her face in the dark waters of night. "Bring me a lantern!" he called out for any crew mate who would move to get him one. No one did. "Now!" he yelled behind him. A scrawny young man hurried over with one immediately. Jack took it and lowered it over the side so it hovered over Marissa's form. "I guess we've found ourselves what we've been looking for-" he stopped and then said, "It can't be! Marissa Jones?"
Marissa exhaled her long held breath and nodded. "It's me Jack Sparrow, you lying, filthy, bastard!" she yelled up to him.
"That 'urts love . . ." he said to her in a pouting fashion.
"I hope it did!" she scowled at him even more.
"So you're our mermaid? You have the coin?"
"No . . . Caroline- does." She said, now realizing she didn't even know the woman's last name.
"Then 'ow come you're a mermaid, eh?"
"A long story . . . I need- your help." She finally said. It was hard after all he had done to her in the past; this was one pirate she hated.
"Aw love," he smiled at her.
"I'm serious, Jack Sparrow! Caroline is going to die if you don't help me save her! And then if she does die, there will be no treasure without her."
He was the one scowling now, she was right. "Ok, where is this Caroline girl?"
Marissa told them of what had happened and how far away she was. When she had explained and Jack had asked his questions he gathered 3 crew mates. Ana Maria, Mr. Gibbs and Cotton, who he had grown closer to in time, he loved the man's parrot, he had to like him. They lowered a row boat and rowed along side Marissa in the water. They rowed for about an hour and finally Marissa was sure she had found the right place she said, "Here, she's down there. Jack you have to dive in and get her." they where in a slightly shallow area making it easier for jack to reach Caroline.
He did as he was told and after showing off with his perfect, amazing dive, found Caroline lying at the sandy bottom. Her arm was badly cut and she had a light pulse, they where almost too late. He struggled getting her up and when he finally did was exhausted, he choked from lack of air. "Thank god, Jack! You saved her." Marissa threw her arms around his middle in a suffocating hug as the two bobbed in the water. When she realized what she was doing she pulled away quickly. Jack Smirked at her and said, "I knew you couldn't resist." climbing back into the tiny row boat.
"How can you make jokes at a time like this!?" she asked furious at his remark. "We have to get her back, now." She said acknowledging the crew to row. She held her new friend's leather bag in her soft hands. When she looked up she noted Ana Maria, she was the only female crew member Jack had. So far as she had noticed, obviously one of his most trusted crew members. She was tough looking, yet petite. She made a mental note to talk with her later.
***
Caroline's eyes opened slowly as her arm stung from being treated. She woke to see Jack hovering over her naked figure and out of instinct immediately tried to cover herself. Jack calmed her and she withdrew a little. She closed her eyes and did as Marissa had told her. She imagined herself sitting in her room, the breeze messing with her hair. Her fin instantly reshaped itself into two beautiful legs.
Jack watched in amazement, he took in her whole image and saw she did have the other coin dangling from her neck after she removed her hand from it. She looked at Jack and spoke hoarsely, "Who are you? What happened?" He finished tying up the cloth he had placed around her wounded arm. She winced and he apologized.
"Sorry, love." He smiled at her greedily and she mistook his look as wanting something she wasn't going to give.
"You can't have me, I won't let you!" Caroline said in defense.
"I wouldn't take advantage of you like that, I'm just glad you pulled through." There was a knock at the door and jack slipped away, leaving Caroline to herself. She had no clue what had happened or who he was, she hadn't seen he had been wearing the other coin; considering as many trinkets he had on his form it was hard to take it all in. She looked around the room and found a piece of clothing he must have laid out for her. It was a plain white dress and she slipped it on graciously, she was cold. She sat back down on the small bed she had awoken on and found she was quite tired. As she rested she finally let sleep claim her for the night, as a human once again.
Disclaimer: see prologue
Chapter one:
Caroline was awakened by a sound outside her window. It was like a bird humming a tune but, this was even more enchanting than that. She sat up in her bed, it was late and her mother must not have woken her for dinner . . . "that's very odd, she rarely lets me get away with things like this . . . so far I have not gotten into any scrapes about skipping dinner or skipping Mark's visit . . ." she said to herself wondering. The moon was bright in the night sky and shimmered it's reflection upon the sea. Caroline could hear the waves crash on the shore and then she would hear the faintest most beautiful music she had ever heard before.
She was being called. Called to the ocean, called by a voice she had yet to discover coming from someone . . . something in the water thought to be myth. A mermaid. A girl not much older than Caroline, miles away, somewhere in the vast waters, was the one making such seducing music. Caroline walked out into the night air, cool and refreshing on her skin, she had taken her leather bag, she never left alone without it. The coin and chain she had fastened on her neck was still there and as the singing grew stronger the glow on the coin did too. Though Caroline hadn't seemed to notice the glow being propelled off her smooth, white bodice.
When Caroline neared the sandy beach in front of her the coin seemed to lift of her neck as if weightless. This startled her a bit but, the music kept her calm. Caroline closed her eyes and as she felt the cool water rush upon her toes she smiled. Then she was lifted from the ground and she hovered there, just barely an inch from the sand, her whole body engulfed by the coins glow, the music now stronger than ever. With a jolt she was spun higher into the air, there was no way to escape its pull.
Caroline relaxed, unsure of what was coming. Suddenly her legs seemed to tingle, she looked down on them as to her unbelief they became a fin. In just one swirl of blue-green light her legs had gone from flesh to fin. She was dazzled by it all and as the singing slowed she fell to the ground, halfway into the water. Her leather bag still hanging from her shoulder, the coin now resting on her neck like nothing had happened. It took Caroline a moment or two to fully realize the reality of her situation, then it dawned on her; she was half fish, she was a . . . "mermaid" she breathed.
The moon shown down on her slivery blond hair, now blonder than ever in the moon's light. Caroline fluttered her tale in the water, splashing salty drops onto her breast. She was completely naked and her thin, white piece of clothing she wore as nightgown lay sprawled out in the sand, near where she had fell from the sky. She couldn't exactly fathom what had just happened. Though as she slipped into the ocean that night she thought perhaps she would never have to see Mark ever again, perhaps she would never have to be a proper lady again.
***
"Captain, where nearing some coves!" a man yelled toward his captain.
"Starboard side?" His captain returned.
"Aye, Cap'n." the man now said at his captain's side. "You think you could explain to me Jack what that," the man pointed at the coin dangling from his neck, "has to do with our newest expedition?" A cocky grin grew across Captain Jack Sparrow's face.
"Aye, I could . . ." He told his crew mate. "This coin here, it's goin' to take us to find treasure but, before we can find treasure we must find the other coin. It's identical to this one and when they join each other they reveal where this treasure is. Now the other coin is in possession of some lady. The lady can turn into a mermaid when ever she wants with it but, I doubt she knows this. . . I need her to find the treasure, savvy?"
"Aye, 'tis" said the crew mate. He was a burly man and had a graying beard suggesting he was a few years older than Jack sparrow, his captain. Jack gave his trademark grin once again and ordered the crew to make ready to drop anchor for a day, he was in no rush. There paths would cross when the time was right.
***
Caroline was tired from swimming so much. She didn't know how to change herself back to a normal woman. She floated on the surface of the water looking for anything interesting, there was nothing. Just when Caroline was about to swim away she was splashed from behind. "Ah!" she uttered a small scream of surprise. She turned to see what it was and saw the tip of a fish like tale. "That's strange . . ." Caroline said to herself before she dove under the rolling sea. She searched for a few minutes and then was tapped from behind.
Caroline quickly threw her head over her shoulders to see who had been playing tricks on her. It was a beautiful mermaid like herself, except this one had brown hair and blue eyes, instead of green. Her fin was a deep red, unlike Caroline's who's was a bright blue-green, like the color of turquoise. "Hello, Caroline." She said. This surprised Caroline, how did she know her name?
"How do you know my name and who are you?" she asked in return shaking her head. The red tailed mermaid swam upward toward the surface and Caroline followed. When the red tailed mermaid reached the surface she threw her hair back and breathed the fresh air. Caroline admired her and waited for her to speak again.
"I'm Marissa, I know your name because I needed a friend; it gets lonely out here. I left the coin for you after finding out the other one had been found by a sea captain, can't recall the name. I was the first person to ever discover the secret of these coins, me and my fiancé, after he died I decided to become a mermaid full time never recovering his coin." She told Caroline.
"I'm sorry for your loss. It's nice to meet you but, how did you know I loved the water so much? And you can change back if you have the coin?" She asked Marissa slightly confused.
"Well, I hadn't left the sea for over a year and I needed a friend, I wasn't sure you loved the sea as much as I but, I had watched you for a couple of days and decided I wanted you as my friend, your not like most women today . . . your different. Now that you have the coin you can come and go from the sea when ever you please . . . Once I anyone gives up possession of the coin the next time they touch water they are forever transformed into a mermaid."
"So you're saying that the rustling in the bushes was you and now you are unable to reform into a human because you gave up possession of the coin to me? . . . You can't go back even if I gave you the coin?" Caroline asked checking.
"Yes, I'm a mermaid for the rest of my life now. You and the sea captain though . . . you can find a treasure so amazing I can't imagine what it is like . . . I am here to help you and him find it."
"So you gave up a treasure worth more than anything in the world for a part time friend?"
"A sailor once told me, 'not all treasure is silver and gold m'lady.' It isn't and my true treasure is gone, I don't want money . . . I just want a friend."
"So why didn't you just keep the coin and go back to being a human?"
"Because . . . I can't, I don't belong there . . ."
"I guess we can be friends then but, you must show me how to change form. Oh and explain why there is a marking of a pirate on this coin." Caroline told her.
"I will show you, it's simple. Close your eyes and think of a sandy beach, a town, some place on land. Then hold the coin in your hand and believe you are there. You will go through the same steps to change back into a mermaid."
"And about the marking of a pirate on the coin?"
"Ah, yes, the original owner of the treasure was pirate, his name being William Cape. Some say he haunts the sea looking for the treasure he died over, looking for his lost love, a mermaid he was forbidden to see. He created these coins before he died so that mermaids would still live on and someday someone would recover his treasure, for them and for him . . ."
"I despise pirates!" Caroline scowled.
"You best get use to 'em, they populate the ocean immensely. In fact they are usually the people who spot us and fall in love with us because we can do so many wonderful things. They actually don't use us as there whores." Marissa tried to change her outlook before she even knew why Caroline disliked them. "Why, anyway?"
"Because they killed my father! They ruined my family . . ." she looked away from Marissa.
"I'm . . . sorry . . ." Marissa told Caroline, she really had had no clue.
"So where are you headed . . .?" Caroline changed the topic.
"To find the other coin now that you've managed to find me . . ."
"I see, I suppose I will be coming with you then." The two had started to swim along side each other Marissa leading Caroline along. Suddenly she stopped abruptly.
"You must go now!" Marissa yelled to Caroline. "Go!" she yelled once more to tell her there was no time to explain. Caroline didn't understand what was going on until it was too late. A shark was coming towards the two; Marissa grew stiff and breathed deep under the water. Caroline's necklace flashed at the shark's eye, luring it to come to them in particular. Marissa surly knew how to out smart a shark, right?
It was blood thirsty and chased the two as Marissa tried to make it follow her. It didn't work he wanted Caroline; she had the necklace that caught his eye. Caroline swam franticly and then Marissa heard her scream, she had been trying to catch back up to them. "No . . ." she managed to get out in a hard attempt considering the rock size lump in her throat. Marissa thought for sure she was dead . . . When she found her though Caroline was bleeding terribly. She was alive but, unconscious and there was no way Marissa could lift her to the surface alone and even if she could, what would she do with her after she had done that. She needed to find help; fast.
*** Later that night Marissa came upon some small, few islands with tiny, coves in close range of each other. She heard a party going on, then after she swam a little farther she saw a pirate ship, lit with candles as joyful laughter carried of the ship. When Marissa had reached the side of the ship she could now read the name inscribed on the wood finish. It read "The Black Pearl" in fancy lettering. Her sails where grayed but, you could tell they had once been black. The ship was most defiantly old but, beautiful after having aged quite a bit all the same.
Marissa knew it would be hard to get the drunken pirates to see her and not decided they had truly lost there minds on account of the rum. She looked for the captain and decided that he must be the man in the aged tri-corner hat, his strange hair falling from underneath it. He was half in the shadows, half not and far away from where Marissa floated in the water. She would have to sing . . .
Marissa took a deep breath and hoped for the best, little did she know the captain was Jack Sparrow and the man who had found the missing coin.
"I am a creature of the Fey
Prepare to give your soul away
My spell is passion and it is art
My song can bind a human heart
And if you chance to know my face
My hold shall be your last embrace. . ."
She sung with such beauty by the time her song ended and she had opened her eyes with the last note, every man of "The Black Pearl" was at the edge looking down on her. Their mouths gaping open like dogs painting in the summer heat. One man yelled out "Look it's a mermaid!" then another said "My god! She is!" and then she heard his voice. The half slurred voice of Captain Jack Sparrow; a voice she never could have comprehended hearing once again . . . "A Mermaid is she?" he asked himself, a smirk playing at his lips. He had though this was his woman, the one with the other coin he had been looking for.
Jack squinted his eyes even more; it was hard to see her face in the dark waters of night. "Bring me a lantern!" he called out for any crew mate who would move to get him one. No one did. "Now!" he yelled behind him. A scrawny young man hurried over with one immediately. Jack took it and lowered it over the side so it hovered over Marissa's form. "I guess we've found ourselves what we've been looking for-" he stopped and then said, "It can't be! Marissa Jones?"
Marissa exhaled her long held breath and nodded. "It's me Jack Sparrow, you lying, filthy, bastard!" she yelled up to him.
"That 'urts love . . ." he said to her in a pouting fashion.
"I hope it did!" she scowled at him even more.
"So you're our mermaid? You have the coin?"
"No . . . Caroline- does." She said, now realizing she didn't even know the woman's last name.
"Then 'ow come you're a mermaid, eh?"
"A long story . . . I need- your help." She finally said. It was hard after all he had done to her in the past; this was one pirate she hated.
"Aw love," he smiled at her.
"I'm serious, Jack Sparrow! Caroline is going to die if you don't help me save her! And then if she does die, there will be no treasure without her."
He was the one scowling now, she was right. "Ok, where is this Caroline girl?"
Marissa told them of what had happened and how far away she was. When she had explained and Jack had asked his questions he gathered 3 crew mates. Ana Maria, Mr. Gibbs and Cotton, who he had grown closer to in time, he loved the man's parrot, he had to like him. They lowered a row boat and rowed along side Marissa in the water. They rowed for about an hour and finally Marissa was sure she had found the right place she said, "Here, she's down there. Jack you have to dive in and get her." they where in a slightly shallow area making it easier for jack to reach Caroline.
He did as he was told and after showing off with his perfect, amazing dive, found Caroline lying at the sandy bottom. Her arm was badly cut and she had a light pulse, they where almost too late. He struggled getting her up and when he finally did was exhausted, he choked from lack of air. "Thank god, Jack! You saved her." Marissa threw her arms around his middle in a suffocating hug as the two bobbed in the water. When she realized what she was doing she pulled away quickly. Jack Smirked at her and said, "I knew you couldn't resist." climbing back into the tiny row boat.
"How can you make jokes at a time like this!?" she asked furious at his remark. "We have to get her back, now." She said acknowledging the crew to row. She held her new friend's leather bag in her soft hands. When she looked up she noted Ana Maria, she was the only female crew member Jack had. So far as she had noticed, obviously one of his most trusted crew members. She was tough looking, yet petite. She made a mental note to talk with her later.
***
Caroline's eyes opened slowly as her arm stung from being treated. She woke to see Jack hovering over her naked figure and out of instinct immediately tried to cover herself. Jack calmed her and she withdrew a little. She closed her eyes and did as Marissa had told her. She imagined herself sitting in her room, the breeze messing with her hair. Her fin instantly reshaped itself into two beautiful legs.
Jack watched in amazement, he took in her whole image and saw she did have the other coin dangling from her neck after she removed her hand from it. She looked at Jack and spoke hoarsely, "Who are you? What happened?" He finished tying up the cloth he had placed around her wounded arm. She winced and he apologized.
"Sorry, love." He smiled at her greedily and she mistook his look as wanting something she wasn't going to give.
"You can't have me, I won't let you!" Caroline said in defense.
"I wouldn't take advantage of you like that, I'm just glad you pulled through." There was a knock at the door and jack slipped away, leaving Caroline to herself. She had no clue what had happened or who he was, she hadn't seen he had been wearing the other coin; considering as many trinkets he had on his form it was hard to take it all in. She looked around the room and found a piece of clothing he must have laid out for her. It was a plain white dress and she slipped it on graciously, she was cold. She sat back down on the small bed she had awoken on and found she was quite tired. As she rested she finally let sleep claim her for the night, as a human once again.