Disclaimer: I had Jack Sparrow chained in my basement, until Disney came to reclaim him. Now he's no longer mine…
AN: I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! Life sucks sometimes. Oh, and some people might not like the idea of attempted suicide, but that's what happens during this chapter. Please keep in mind that it is only for the sake of the story, and nothing more. Other than that, enjoy this chapter. Thanks!
Chapter 7: Tales of the Past:
The Next Day, Jack's POV:
From the moment he heard his crew making their way on deck, Jack knew that he had a lot of explaining to do. Actually, Nerissa would be the one explaining; Jack would be the one stopping his crew from probably harming the girl as she talked and answered their questions. It might seem odd, but pirates absolutely hate being lied to. And for good reason: it was damn hard to find people to trust in any line of work, and when one is living a dangerous life that depends on your crewmates, being stabbed in the back figuratively (as well as literally) is something no pirate likes very much.
A shuffling noise from the bed snapped Jack out of his thoughts. Sitting up straight in his chair, he watched as Nerissa's brown eyelashes fluttered open. Her dark brown eyes were still glazed over with sleepiness, but he could see she was waking up rather quickly. He couldn't hold back a small smile as she yawned a little bit and sighed like a child. She was rather cute, and her hair was in an adorable messy state from her night of restful sleep. Mentally slapping himself back to the task at hand, Jack shook his thoughts about her looks from his mind and leaned closer to Nerissa's waking form.
"Morning, luv," he said, smirking as she gave a small yelp of surprise at his closeness. "Would you care for breakfast before or after you tell the crew about how you managed to send off the Sirens?"
Nerissa swallowed hard. "Um, well," she stuttered, glancing around the room nervously. "Uh, breakfast…would be…nice…"
Jack simply nodded and went to fetch some food for the both of them from the galley. When he returned, he saw that Nerissa had washed her face and combed out her hair so that it shone. Not many people could keep their hair in such lovely healthy condition while at sea, and yet she managed to do just that. Jack inwardly shook his head and put the food down on the table. As the two of them ate, Jack stole glances at the woman seated across from him.
'What's a noblewoman like her got to do with the Sirens?' he silently asked himself. 'Why would they care enough about her to leave when she told them? Could her family be friends with them?'
No, the aristocracy didn't believe in the Sirens any more than the general sailor population. Deep in his gut, though, Jack knew that Nerissa was closely linked to the deadly female pirates, and that her relationship with them had saved the lives of his crew. They owed her a great deal for that, and would have to return the favor some day…he only hoped that particular day was far off in the future. Meanwhile, the food was gone and Nerissa was starting to look a bit green around the gills.
"Alright, time to fess up to everything we want to know, luv," Jack said nonchalantly as he stood from his chair. "No use running away, and hiding in the brig is not an option, so don't even ask."
She merely sighed and stood up, eerily silent as she walked out the door and onto the deck, Jack following closely behind her.
Author's POV:
The ship went silent as Nerissa came on deck and approached a stool sitting at the base of the mast. The crew took their places, sitting or standing in a semi-circle around the stool that was now their center of attention. Mr. Cotton's parrot (oddly enough) was keeping watch for any approaching ships so that everyone could hear what the secretive young woman had to tell them. Annamaria took up a spot next to Nerissa, offering silent support to her friend as the rest of the ship's crew turned hardened glances towards her. Sighing, Nerissa did her best to gather her nerve to speak.
After a few moments of silence, Jack grew impatient. "If you don't start talking on your own, luv, we'll force it out of you, and you really don't want us to do that."
Nerissa swallowed hard and took a deep breath. A moment later, she began the tale of her past.
Flashback: 24 years prior:
The Fireblade was sinking fast, and her crew of Sirens was starting the Call of Death, the song and ritual that started the ceremony that would carry them to their watery graves. They were ashamed of themselves, the heavy fog having clouded their senses and blinded them to the approach of the approaching English ships. They had stayed in these waters for far too long, and the Royal Navy and the English noblemen were coming to bring them to justice.
Catalina, captain of the Fireblade, refused to surrender to the English bastards who were so keen on apprehending her sisters and hanging them all as soon as they set foot on English soil. Death by a form of justice outside of Siren Law was not an option, and Catalina would do everything in her power to save her crew from that fate. One look at the approaching ships told her that no mercy would be given to them, and ordered the poison to be distributed so that they all might die with dignity. The crew quickly swallowed their poison, Catalina being the last to take it as she had to make sure of the others before allowing herself to die. The last crewmember swallowed her poison just before the Fireblade exploded on the water, sending Catalina flying off the deck and into the water.
It was an hour later that Lord Robert Fox and six of his men rowed out to the wreckage, trying to see what they could salvage and if there were any survivors. The sight horrified them: dead bodies were everywhere, and all of them were women! In their men's clothes, the Navy had merely thought them to be male pirates that needed to be brought to justice. They had been thrown clear of the ship during the explosion, but the complete lack of life in the water told that they had died by their own hands, as the detonation would have left some survivors. They obviously hadn't wanted to be taken alive.
Shaking his head at the scene, Robert ordered his men to turn back. As the small boat turned, however, Robert could clearly make out the form of a woman lying on top of a floating piece of driftwood. Ordering his men to turn towards it, the nobleman could see that her face did not hold the paleness nor of the eerie stillness of a corpse. From what he could see, she bled like a person still living, and her chest moved with each breath she took; the woman was alive, and Robert felt it was his duty to help her. So, forgetting his own safety for the sake of another, Robert reached out and pulled her unconscious form into the boat, holding her in his arms as they headed back towards the navy and to his ship, King's Jewel.
As she was laid down on a bed onboard the Jewel, Robert took in the woman's appearance. Hair black as coal and straight as an arrow cascaded down the pillow, making her golden skin stand out. Clearly she was of Asian origin, for the almond-shaped eyes, gold skin and straight black hair gave it away. Robert had not seen many people from the East, but he'd seen enough to recognize them on sight. He wondered what this woman's significance was onboard the vessel he had sunk. Her clothes, though burned, were still of good quality, but how could she have survived if the others had not? He would ask her those when she awoke.
Catalina awoke alarmed and frightened in a bed she did not know. There were pale Englishmen hovering all around her, and she panicked. One of them, a tall redheaded man with very muscular arms, grabbed her and held her down. As she struggled, Catalina's eyes met the pale blue ones of the man holding her. In an instant, the fight went out of her and she collapsed on the bed, limp as a dead fish. The man merely smiled down into her black eyes as another man examined her wounds.
A month later, Catalina found herself being taken from a holding cell on the King's Jewel and towards the nearest jail to be hung in three days time. She was just getting settled when a section of the wall moved. Gasping in shock, she saw it was Robert, the man from the ship who had always been so kind to her. He had a smile on his face as he motioned her to follow him. Puzzled and against her better judgment, she followed him without question, crawling on her hands and knees down a small tunnel and out into an alleyway. There stood an elegant carriage the likes of which noblemen used, as well as several guards. Robert escorted Catalina into the carriage and the two rode out of London without attracting any attention as they drove towards his private country house.
Three months later, Robert introduced his fiancée, Catherine Martin, to his beloved family. The family was thrilled to see their oldest son and heir engaged to such a polite and well-mannered lady, even though she was of a minor rank in society and from a small countryside manor in Spain. Her dark hair and eyes were well groomed, and her golden skin and almond-shaped eyes were enchanting to her future in-laws. Robert was ecstatic that his family loved his Catherine as much as he did, and the two were married on the Fox estate three months after her introduction to the family.
It wasn't long after the wedding that little Nerissa Marianna Carolina Fox was born to two very happy and excited parents. Catherine (formerly Catalina) did her best to educate her daughter in the behaviors of high society, but for some reason, the traditions of the Sirens always made their way into the daily lessons. Nerissa was quick to learn the correct way to behave at dinner parties and to act like a lady, but to her, the lessons about the female pirates of the sea were far more interesting. Even as she sat properly at the dinner table and used the appropriate knife and fork in the correct way, Nerissa always mentally went over the stories her mother had told her about the Sirens. She loved hearing about the sword fighting, the singing, and the dangerous adventures her mother had experienced before marrying Nerissa's father.
One day, after Nerissa had turned five-years-old, she was told that she was going to be a big sister. After calming down her excited daughter, Catherine forced her eldest (and only) girl-child to promise to always take care of her younger sibling, no matter what happened. Puzzled at her mother's odd behavior, the little girl swore that she'd always do her best to take care of her little brother or sister. Satisfied, Catherine continued to teach her daughter the ways of the Sirens up until the day she gave birth, this time to a son and heir to the Fox fortunes.
End Flashback
Jack's POV:
"And you told me that your mother died in childbirth," Jack slowly said, cutting into her tale.
Nerissa nodded. "A week after my brother, Philippe, was born, I was pulled aside by my father and he told me that Mother had left us, and that I would never see her again." A slow trickle of tears started to flow down her face, and Mr. Gibbs handed her a handkerchief. She thanked him and finished wiping her eyes. "After that, it was my responsibility to look after my brother and take care of him."
"Quite the chore for a girl of only five," Annamaria said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.
"I didn't get a chance to be with him for very long," Nerissa sadly replied. "When Philippe was beginning to walk, Father decided he had put off my education long enough and began sending me around to world to learn. I was passed around to family members, mostly my grandmother and my aunts." She gave a watery laugh through what was left of her tears. "My father was the oldest of seven children, which includes five younger sisters, so I had quite a few good teachers."
Jack gaped. "Six aunts and uncles?" She nodded. "How many cousins do you have?"
"Twelve," she calmly replied. "I'm the eldest grandchild, and the favorite, the apple of my grandmother's eye." Nerissa's smile grew to a grin. "That never stopped her from enforcing my education, though."
The crew laughed as Mr. Gibbs spoke up. "Did the Sirens ever come for ye?" he asked. "I mean, you were the daughter of a captain of theirs, and if your mother had any sense in her head, she would have written to them and told them that she was still alive!"
Nerissa smiled at the older man. "Yes, they did come for me, but not in the way you think," she replied. "I first saw them in Italy, the first place my father sent me for my lessons. One of my aunts lived there in a house by a port, so I was always encountering people of different cultures. It surprised me when a woman dressed in pants and a shirt approached me and asked me if I would like to learn about ships. I agreed, and we began meeting during the afternoon, when I was given free time to explore. However, they made me swear not to tell anyone unless I felt it needful." She smiled at them. "Like I felt it needful to tell the greatest crew imaginable because they helped save my life."
The crew cheered at her grand description of them and Nerissa continued her story once they quieted down.
"My lessons didn't stop with ships, though. As I traveled the world, I encountered Sirens in every country and city I went to, mostly because most of my relatives lived by the sea so that family members could visit them easier. I was later told that my mother had somehow managed to get a letter to the Sirens, telling them that she was alive and had a daughter that needed to be educated in the Siren ways. It's tradition for every girl born to a Siren to be taught about sailing, fighting, and singing, so I was no exception. " A small giggle escaped her lips. "I think they would have found me even if I were in the middle of a desert! I even got the privilege to travel home aboard a Siren ship and see how things worked and were customarily done."
"So what happened after your education?" Jack pressed, wanting to hear more.
Nerissa shrugged. "Not much, really," she replied. "Philippe and I had kept in touch over the years, and I often went home for four or five month stretches, so we had plenty of time to get to know one another." She sighed, looking down at her hands. "I miss him. I hope he's alright, after hearing about me disappearing like that."
"Oh, yes, the little kidnapping," Jack said, frowning slightly. "Was that marriage really needed to expand your family's fortunes, or was that something else entirely?"
Her brown eyes met his. "The marriage was…well, I suppose you could say 'political' and not be wrong," she answered. "My father told me in a letter that the Sirens wanted me to marry a man with connections to the black markets in the Caribbean. They want to spread out to the Western World, and if I don't marry who they want me to, the leaders of the Sirens will be very displeased with my father." She glared at Jack. "That's why I was so upset when you took me. It's likely that, since I didn't arrive, my betrothed wrote to my father, and now Father will have a lot of explaining to do…and that road will quickly lead them to you."
The crew of the Black Pearl gulped in nervousness and fear. Gibbs turned pale, and even Annamaria looked a bit nervy. Jack looked uncomfortable as well as Nerissa continued to speak.
"The Sirens have spies and connections to practically every major port in the world. There are far more of them than you think," she said, her voice turning dark with warning. "Eventually, they will find out what happened to me, and they are not going to be happy. I may not know very many Sirens personally, but they all call one another sister, and if one of them is missing, they will find whoever took them and bring them to Siren justice."
Mr. Gibbs took a long, nervous swig of rum from his flask. "And what, exactly, is Siren justice?" he asked, though he didn't sound like he wanted to know.
"Well, that sort of depends," Nerissa said, her voice hovering between amusement and seriousness. "All roads lead to death by a Siren's hand, but it's usually preceded by torture and misery. The first Sirens to sail the seas had suffered a great deal at the hands of men, and it's always thought that men should suffer in turn for what they did to our ancestors."
"But what exactly would they…do to us?" Gibbs pressed. "I'd like to be prepared, if possible."
"If I can help it, I'll stop them," she told him firmly. "But if worst comes to worst, they'll take all the men and possibly castrate you. At best, they'll force you to be slaves either on ships or send you to their island to be 'taught a lesson' for the rest of your lives."
"Island?" asked a crewman at the back of the gathering. "They have an island?"
"I shouldn't have said that," Nerissa muttered aloud, just enough for Jack, Gibbs, and Annamaria to hear. Louder, she said, "Their Island is held secret so that no one can find it. I wouldn't know where to find it since I haven't been sailing on the Sirens' ships and don't know the coordinates, so don't ask me where it is. Only a Siren captain or crewmember could direct a ship past the deadly reefs and rocks that surround the island on all sides. It's well protected from invading ships."
"So what happened earlier, with the singing?" Jack said, suddenly changing the subject.
"Oh, it was nothing more than a code, telling them to not attack," Nerissa said. "You're lucky I knew it, otherwise you'd all be lying in Davy Jones' Locker right now."
"So you told them you were alright and that they shouldn't attack the Pearl, all in some musical notes?" Jack asked in disbelief.
Nerissa rolled her eyes at him. "Obviously you should know that not all things you hear about us are false, Captain Sparrow." She threw a teasing smile at him.
Jack swallowed hard. Something stirred inside of him at the sight of her grin, and he wasn't sure what it was. All that he knew was that he rather liked it, and that he would very much like to see it again soon.
AN: Wow, lots of background info in this chapter. I hope that people liked it and will review, whether they did or not. Thanks!