Disclaimer: I succeeded in capturing Jack, but Disney stole him back, so I don't own him.
AN: This chapter is one of my favorites so far and I really enjoyed writing it. Nerissa really shows what she's capable of in this piece, and proves what she's worth! Oh, and special thanks to a friend of mine who has constantly been bugging me to update for the past several days. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 6: Songs of the Sirens:
Three Days Later: Nerissa's POV:
For the thousandth time, Nerissa counted the little knots dotted around the wooden floor of the brig. If things got any more boring for her, she'd be going running up the walls. Jack still hadn't forgiven her for keeping secrets from him, and he frequently came down to her cell, asking if she was ready to tell him everything that he wanted to know. In response to his questions, Nerissa always turned away and told him that she would rather be down here than betray her secrets.
'Actually, I'd rather be in Cuba, married to that merchant's son than be down here or give up that which I have sworn to protect,' she thought to herself, looking up at the ceiling. 'At least in Cuba I'd have something to amuse myself with!'
It was the boredom that was going to drive her mad; she knew that immediately. Mr. Cotton and Annamaria smuggled decent food to her (as opposed to the traditional bread, water, or disgusting gruel), so she wasn't going hungry by any means. Anna even came down once in a while to talk to her for a bit so that she could visit her friend, but that visiting time always went by too fast for the female captive's liking. At least Jack hadn't 'made an example' of her in front of the crew.
She shivered. "Thank goodness for that," she muttered aloud.
Nerissa wanted so badly to be out of here, but she knew that her secret was only to be told in the desperate of situations, or to the people she trusted the most. Even Elizabeth didn't know, and she loved her like a sister! The secret Nerissa held in her heart was most precious, though, and she cherished the fact that only a few people in the world could say that they knew what she had buried in the deepest part of her heart and mind.
Sighing, she closed her eyes and drifted off for a nap to pass the time.
Jack's POV:
"I hate this," Jack whispered to himself, his face buried in his hands as he sat at his desk. Sitting up straight, he sighed. "Actually, I hate myself more than I hate this whole bloody situation!"
For the past three days, Jack Sparrow had been questioning the rightness and wrongness of imprisoning Nerissa, and he still couldn't seem to justify his actions. He had been hurt and upset by her distrust in him, but a captain really needed to know whether or not his crewmembers knew how to fight, sail, and how to survive at sea! An enemy dying was one thing, but losing members of one's own crew was too much for him. Jack cared about each and every man and woman (and bird) aboard his Pearl, and considered them family, and he never much liked the idea of losing family when he could avoid it.
'Damnable woman!' he thought, slamming his fist down on his desk in frustration.
Jack began to curse to himself as an image of Nerissa's frightened, sad, and guilty brown eyes flashed in his mind. He cared about this woman, this charming, sweet woman who hadn't screamed in horror upon meeting a pirate, who had instead greeted him with a smile and a thank-you for saving her cousin. She had laughed at his stories and crude jokes instead of sniffing disdainfully or grimacing, all while sharing a dinner table with him, and had eagerly exchanged tales of her own life's adventures without him trying to wheedle them out of her.
'Plus she just so happens to be one of the most exotic-looking women you've ever met,' Jack thought to himself before trying to push the idea out of his mind.
True, Nerissa was a lovely young woman with features uncommon among the English aristocracy. Those perfectly formed, almond-shaped brown eyes would be the death of him; Jack really was a sucker for pretty eyes. Instead of having empty, dimwitted orbs that glazed over at the topic of something other than dresses, jewelry, or scandals, Nerissa always looked interested in learning (or at least hearing) what others had to teach or tell her. She wanted to learn things, and that's what made her special. How many noblewomen wanted and tried to learn more than the normal mannerisms required of her by society?
'Not many,' he thought, smiling. 'She's as eager to learn new things as I am, and she's stubborn to boot, just like her cousin!' Jack snorted aloud. 'I wonder if that sort of thing runs in the Swann family…Lord help whoever marries one of those women!'
On the other hand, who wanted to live a boring life, anyway? Jack grinned and leaned back in his chair, a bottle of rum in his hand.
Nerissa's POV:
"I swear, Anna, if someone doesn't let me out of here quick, I'm going to go bloody mad in here!"
It had been a full week into her stay in the brig, and Nerissa could practically feel the walls closing in around her. She'd done everything within her power to entertain herself, but there was only so much a person could do before all of their resources were exhausted. Presently, Annamaria was cleaning up the remains of their shared noontime meal, giving her precious little time to entertain Nerissa before going to finish her chores.
"I wish there was a way for me to help ye, Nessa, but Captain Sparrow can be as stubborn as nails when he wants," the dark woman said, shaking her head. "If only you'd tell him what he wants to know, then there'd be no problem."
Nerissa sighed. "I can't, Anna." Her voice became sad and hollow, as though she were going to burst into tears. "I can't tell him. It goes against the oath I swore, and I can't do that!"
Anna sighed. "Well, I've got to give ye credit for sticking to this oath of yers," she said, shaking her head. "Could ye at least tell me what you've sworn not to actually tell me? You know, give me a little information through a loophole of sorts?"
Nerissa gave her a blank stare from behind the bars before smiling slightly. "Well, all I can say is that I can't tell you where I learned how to fight, do a sailor's chores, cook, clean, or any other pirate duties."
Anna nodded her head. "I completely understand," she said, amusement showing through the somber face she was trying to give her friend. "I want ye to know that I still like and trust ye, Nessa, no matter what those idiots on deck say. You've worked damn hard while you've been here and not given one word of complaint." She wrinkled her nose. "Which is more than I can say about those cabin boys that Jack so often brings aboard."
"Well, thanks, Anna," Nerissa said, laughing. Slowly reaching through the bars, she gently patted the other woman on the arm. "That means a lot to me."
"Think nothing of it," the pirate woman said, winking. "Now, I'd better be off before Captain Sparrow tosses me in here for slacking my work!"
"Oh, yes, please join me!" A large grin formed on Nerissa's mouth. "We can keep each other entertained and sing all sorts of loud songs to annoy the crew while they're working!"
Anna laughed. "I'd rather be singing them on deck, so they can hear it better."
Both women broke out in a fit of laughter before Anna returned upstairs with the tray. Once again, Nerissa was left below, alone and bored to near tears.
The Next Day: Jack's POV:
More than anything, Jack hated foggy days at sea. It annoyed him that he couldn't see where he was going, and the thought of possibly running into someone unpleasant (namely the Royal Navy) didn't exactly appeal to him, especially when he was unprepared. Usually he didn't mind weather like this too much, but when the Pearl ran the possibility of being the attacked instead of the attacker, Jack wasn't exactly a happy captain. Fellow pirates might use this weather to ambush them, and that was why he had extra people up in the crow's nest, keeping a sharp eye out for anything that didn't seem to look or feel right in this weather.
It was then that they heard it. A gasp went up among a few members of the crew and Jack had to rub a finger inside his ear to make sure that he wasn't hearing things. It was singing. Female voices singing an ominous melody that sent shivers down his spine. It was eerily beautiful and pure, but hidden beneath the melody was a warning of danger and death. Jack didn't know how he knew it, but his crew was in danger from the possessors of those voices, and he needed to get them out of there, fast.
'Damn fog is too thick to see where they're coming from, though!' he thought, frustrated as all he could see were oceans of water and mist.
The singing got louder and closer, and Jack could easily see his men nearly wetting themselves in fright. He knew what they were thinking, but he couldn't bring himself to admit their existence. They had been talked about among sailors across the globe, but those who spoke of them were always deemed mad or storytellers…or both. Few had had encounters with them and willingly told the tales, for those who did were labeled outcasts and never allowed on a ship again.
'Ships full of singing women,' Jack had thought to himself the first time he'd heard the tales. 'Loads of nonsense and too much rum at sea, that's what it is.'
He knew differently now. They were supposed to be the stuff of myth, but so were undead pirates and cursed Aztec gold. Women who could fight and kill as well as they sang were very difficult to battle against, and if the crew of the Black Pearl was going to face the infamous and mythical Sirens, they'd need every man and woman aboard to be armed and ready…
Sighing, Jack sent Gibbs down to the brig.
Nerissa's POV:
The sound of boots tramping downstairs to the brig woke Nerissa from her nap, as sleeping was presently the only thing keeping her amused, so she did so whenever possible. She was rubbing the last clouds of drowsiness from her eyes when the sound of the key in the lock surprised her. Had Jack ordered her set free? If so, why? Perhaps he'd forgiven her? Looking up at the person presently freeing her, Nerissa was shocked to see Mr. Gibbs standing there, a terrified look in his eyes.
"Time to get out on deck, missy," he said, his words rushing out in his fright. "All hands are needed for this fight. Lord knows we'll need every one of them today!"
Nerissa grew confused as she was literally hauled out the door and up to the deck. Her feet had just hit the deck when she heard it…and all sense of time and space were lost to her…
Jack's POV:
Despite Jack's attempt to have lookouts posted everywhere, the Sirens' ship had come out of nowhere, their song flowing over every member of the Pearl's crew like breaths of air. The voices still sounded like a warning, predicting the doom of the crew at the mythical females' hands. The men all looked unnerved, but strangely, Annamaria looked somewhere between nervous and calm. Jack attributed it to the fact that she was a woman; in the tales he'd heard, the Sirens didn't harm women unless they felt that they deserved it. Still, seeing the pirate woman stand beside him and look calmer than the entire crew put together was disturbing.
Sighing, Jack did his best to keep his crew calm, but when the ship magically appeared 100 feet behind him on the starboard side of the Pearl, he nearly had a heart attack. Never had a ship managed to sneak up on the Pearl like this before, and it made him feel like his ship had let him down as being the fastest vessel in the Caribbean. Gritting his teeth, Jack began barking orders, his words suddenly freezing on his lips as he saw Nerissa approach the right side of the ship, her brown eyes glazed over as though she were in under a spell.
'Perhaps the Sirens' song got to her,' Jack thought, nearly panicking at the thought of the Sirens harming his Nerissa. He blinked. 'Wait, since when was she my Nerissa?'
It didn't matter; all that mattered was saving the crew and getting them out of there, now! But first, he had to stop Nessa from getting any closer to the side of the ship. Grabbing Annamaria by the arm and forcing her hands onto the helm, Jack ran down to where Nerissa was, eight feet from the railing. Her eyes were still glazed over, but they seemed to hold a sense of purpose that he'd never seen in her before this very moment. He decided to stop what he was doing and watch her.
Finally, five feet from the railing, Nerissa opened her mouth, and the clearest musical note Jack had ever heard erupted from her throat, nearly stopping the fog where it hovered and causing the entire ocean to go still. Once the note had ended, Jack cocked his head and listened.
The Sirens had stopped singing, the music ending as though it were waiting for a signal of some sort.
Sure enough, Nerissa opened her mouth once more and a rush of pleading notes rang out like a church bell. Turning around, Jack spotted the Siren ship pulling up along side the Pearl, the women onboard watching Nerissa intently. Expecting an attack, Jack put himself in front of Nerissa's unmoving form and glared at the women on the other vessel. To his utter shock, one of the women raised a cutlass and saluted him before her ship sailed off into the fog, taking the warrior women with her. As the last wisp of fog enveloped their ship, the Sirens called out what could only be described as a farewell song to the Pearl, a song holding no malice of any sort.
Blinking, Jack looked around the deck. His men also held looks of disbelief and shock, as well as puzzlement. Annamaria was just as puzzled, but Nerissa seemed to be swaying where she stood, her body going slack. Leaping forward, Jack caught her before she could hit the deck and crack her head on something. Swinging her up into his arms, the Captain of the Black Pearl ordered Anna to take them to the nearest uninhabited island.
Meanwhile: Nerissa's POV:
In the brief moment between snapping out of her daze and the moment she passed out, a great deal of images and thoughts flew through Nerissa Fox's mind. First came the shock that she had remembered the note taught to her so many years ago by the Sirens. It was a complicated high note, and not many could perform it so well or so clearly, save for the best singers in the world. That one note had been created with a purpose: to be specifically sung only in the event of an emergency, for the note could ring out over a rather long distance and halt any form of attack from any Siren ships. It was that single note that had caused the battle to pause briefly before it had even begun.
The melody following that one note was a coded message woven into song to specifically ward off attack, as well as to prevent future attacks on the vessel. Nerissa was immensely thankful that she'd managed to remember those notes and counter melodies at the right time, and was thankful that Jack had sent for her when he had. If it had been a few moments later, the entire Pearl would have been up in smoke faster than a child could say 'yo, ho!'
Pleased that she'd been able to do something for the crew of the Black Pearl, as well as it's captain, Nerissa decided that she'd had enough excitement for one day and let her body turn off to recover from all of the tension she had put it through.
Jack's POV:
As he lay an unconscious Nerissa down on his bed, Jack breathed a sigh of relief and agitation. The woman had scared the daylights out of him, and when she woke up, he was going to give her a piece of his mind…right after he thanked her for saving his life, the lives of his crewmen, and his Pearl.
'Damn it, this is one confusing day,' he thought, sitting down on the bed next to her prone form. 'Sirens are real, Nerissa singing like an angel of music and saving my crew from death…'
Jack's thoughts trailed off as he pulled out a bottle of rum from his desk and took a deep drink. Once the bottle was half empty, he focused on the woman lying in front of him. She had secrets, all right, but those secrets had saved many lives this day. However, tomorrow, Jack was going to get those secrets out of her, whether she wanted to tell them or not.
Leaning back in his chair, Jack spent a restless night watching Nerissa enjoy a pleasant night's sleep on his bed.
AN: Well, what did you think? I loved writing this chapter, and whether you liked reading it or not, please let me know what you thought of it. I'd really appreciate it! Thanks!