Disclaimer: I succeeded in capturing Jack, but Disney stole him back, so I don't own him.
AN: This story will be coming to a close within the next few chapters. Short notice, I know, but that's how this story was planned out. There might be a sequel, if I feel like writing one, but all we can do is wait and see. I'm planning on writing a Will Turner fic, but I will wait and see if a sequel to Sirens is an option. Enjoy the chapter, and let me know how you like it!
Chapter 8: Adventures of Multiple Kinds:
Three Weeks Later: Author's POV:
Life began to get a tad more interesting after the truth about Nerissa's past came out in the open. The crew, though still weary of her, managed to like her despite the fact that she was at least half Siren. Now that she could perform all of her assigned chores with accuracy without having to hide them, life became more pleasant for Nerissa.
Just like any other crewmember on the Pearl, she was allowed access to every corner of the Pearl without someone having to keep an eye on her. She was even granted permission to take part in raids. Even though Jack didn't like the idea of her going into battle after what had happened the last time, he allowed it so that he wasn't showing favoritism; the last thing he wanted was to have an angry crew on his hands! As time went on and Nerissa started to fit into pirate life, everyone began to warm up to the one they called the Siren of the Black Pearl, mostly because, two days after the Pearl's encounter with the Siren ship, Nerissa had begun to hum songs while doing her duties on deck, and her humming eventually turned into singing.
The crew soon learned that Nerissa's voice had a clear, ringing tone to it that made everyone stop and listen until she stopped. It happened on an hourly basis, and her singing seemed to make the daily chores go faster, despite the fact that it should have been annoying to everyone. The music was a welcome change to the usually silent deck. However, as soon as Nerissa realized what she was doing, she'd blush and stop singing, going back to work without knowing that the crew was disappointed in the lack of song on deck. Thinking that she was distracting everyone around her, she did her best to stop humming or singing all together, but simply found it impossible. It was as though something had been set free inside of her, and she just couldn't find a way to contain it any longer. Music had been engraved into her heart and spirit by her Siren relatives, but Nerissa hadn't used it until she'd had to save the Pearl's crewmembers and captain. Now that it had been set loose, humming and singing had now become a daily part of her life, whether she liked it or not.
One afternoon, after another bout of singing in front of the crew, Nerissa found herself called into Jack's cabin for a chat. Nervous that he was upset with her distracting the crew, she made her way to the Captain's Cabin. Jack was already seated, his feet up on the table and a bottle of rum in his hands. He gave her a silent command to sit down by motioning to another chair across from him. Obeying the order, Nerissa slowly and delicately sat, her hands folded in her lap in a very ladylike manner as she waited for Jack to speak. She didn't have to wait long.
"I understand that you are quite the distraction on deck, luv," he said, taking a swig from his rum bottle.
She blushed. "I'm sorry, Jack," she apologized. "I can't help it. Ever since we ran into the Sirens, I've just had the urge to sing whenever I'm working on deck." A small lopsided smiled quirked the corner of her mouth. "It's sort of a Siren tradition for everyone to hum a song while working, since it makes the chores go faster and keeps everyone in a good humor throughout the day."
Jack looked interested. "Really?" he asked in a slightly slurred voice. "Does it work?"
Nerissa shrugged. "It appears to," she said. "I spent months at a time with them, and I've never seen anyone work faster or happier than a Siren singing or listening to a song while doing their chores."
The pirate captain frowned in thought for a moment. "All right, then," he said, waving his hand. "Proceed with the singing, luv, as long as I don't get complaints from the crew."
An eyebrow lifted on Nerissa's face. "Don't you mean 'as long as you don't get more complaints from the crew'?" she asked.
"Oh, no," he said, grinning broadly at her expression. "In fact, the crew's been unhappy that you don't finish singing the songs that you start! Down right maddening for them, you understand, hearing someone start a beautiful song and not hearing the ending. If you want to keep the crew happy, luv, you'll finish the songs that you start from now on, savvy?"
She could only nod through her surprise before going back on deck to finish her work.
After that, there was an unspoken agreement that Nerissa's main chore on the Pearl would be her singing or humming while the rest of the crew was working. To Jack, it seemed as though the Sirens were on to something; the crew did work in a happier manner now that the deck wasn't so quiet. With a cheerful song flowing across the deck like a warm rain, the men (and other woman of the crew) were all too happy to do their work. Knowing that singing was a tough job in and of itself, various members of the crew had eagerly taken over Nerissa's other chores so that she could focus on performing for them. In fact, the only depressing parts of the day were when Nerissa had to take a break to rest her voice and the crew had to get along without her songs.
And so Nerissa had become a very welcome member of the crew. She had proven herself in the ability to work, and to give something invaluable to the crew. However, she still had to prove herself in the way of becoming a pirate…
Nerissa's POV:
Two months after their encounter with the Sirens, Nerissa noticed that Jack had something very heavy weighing on his mind. So, being the helpful person that she was, she decided to try and help him with whatever burden was lying on his shoulders. Knocking loudly on his door one sunny afternoon, Nerissa heard his call to come in and swiftly entered the slightly dark cabin.
"Jack, is something wrong?" she asked, walking over to his desk, where his hunched over form was gazing at some sort of parchment or another.
"Nothing to worry about, luv," Jack said, frowning as he stared at a sheet of paper. "It's something I have to take care of myself."
Nerissa reached over and tugged on a dreadlock of his hair. "Really, Jack, what's wrong?" she asked after she got his attention.
He looked up at her, expression wavering between amusement and anger. "It's not nice to pull the hair of your captain, darling," he said, brown eyes sparkling.
"Don't change the subject," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "What's wrong?"
Jack sighed. "I need to get half of a map from someone and I don't have a clue who to get it from," he muttered, tapping his fingers on the desk. "All I know is that I need to get to Tortuga to get it, but it doesn't help me if I don't know the name of the person to get the other map half from!"
Nerissa chuckled. "Well, why don't you take us to Tortuga and we'll work from there?" she said, patting him on the shoulder, his fingers suddenly reaching up and brushing against hers in a sign of thanks as she pulled away to leave.
A week later, the Pearl docked in Tortuga. The crew was let loose for some rest and relaxation while Jack marched up to the Faithful Bride tavern and ordered enough rum to fill three men. Nerissa had wanted to get off the ship and get her land-legs back, but Jack refused to let her go out alone. Annamaria had stayed on the ship to keep watch, and the other men had run off to their favorite taverns and inns, so the only person available to accompany Nerissa was Jack. The thought of having to keep Jack company made her a tad nervous, but she didn't have a choice in the matter, so she decided to be the responsible one and make sure that Jack didn't do anything…stupid.
After settling down in a dark corner table at the Bride, Nerissa watched in fascination as Jack downed three mugs of rum in less than ten minutes. She knew that he loved his alcohol, but she could tell that there was something wrong when he drank this much this fast. Sighing, she reached out and grabbed Jack's fourth mug of rum from his hands.
He frowned. "I really need that back, luv," he said, slightly drunken eyes narrowing at her as he reached for the mug.
"Sorry, Jack, but you need to be at least a little bit sober if we're going to figure out who to talk to about that map," Nerissa said, smiling at him.
For some reason, Jack merely stared at her for a moment before sitting back with a sigh, raising his hands in surrender. "All right," he said, reclining in his chair. "I give up."
Surprised at his obedience, Nerissa looked at the slightly filthy mug filled with rum and handed it to a nearby man. "Here," she said, shoving it into the other man's hands. "It's on us."
The stranger's eyes lit up and he grinned. "Thank ye, missy!" he chirped, guzzling down the mug's contents. "Tis very kind of ye!"
"No trouble," Nerissa muttered, turning back towards Jack, who looked suspiciously pleased with himself. "And what are you smirking about?"
The pirate captain merely winked at her as a barmaid approached and placed a (clean) glass of white wine in front of her before bustling off to another customer. Nerissa looked at the glass and back up at Jack, who had a broad smile on his face. Wondering when he'd ordered the wine, she took glass in hand and sniffed. It was a surprisingly good and expensive wine. Taking a sip, she relished the flavor and the look of pleasure on Jack's face when he realized how much she enjoyed the drink. Once the refreshment was gone, however, the two of them sat side-by-side, Jack edging closer to Nerissa's right side as they examined the map half that he had brought along with him.
"So, basically, you don't know anything beyond the fact that the other half of this map is here in Tortuga," she said, leaning back in her chair and looking at Jack out of the corner of her eye.
"Exactly," he said, sighing. "As pathetic as that sounds, luv, it's true. The rat who traded this map half for his life told me that the other half was with his mate, who lives here in Tortuga. I don't know the man's name or what he does for a living, only that he lives here and owns half of a bloody treasure map!"
The last part game out in a growl, and Nerissa could only imagine what Jack would do to whoever owned the map section he was looking for. Deciding to let him fume in private, she turned her attention to the map itself.
The parchment looked fairly old, but it wasn't falling apart just yet. The edges had turned just a bit dry and crumbly as the years passed. On closer inspection, Nerissa noticed that there were a few odd markings in the bottom right-hand corner of the page. They didn't exactly make out a word or a shape, but it made her want a closer look of it. She'd had lessons in map reading from the Sirens, and one captain had made it a point to show her how to read secret instructions, emblems, marks, or codes hidden in plain view on a treasure map. It had been a wonderful month, learning how to think like a pirate or a code decipherer, and Nerissa had been surprisingly good at it, for a twelve-year-old.
A closer inspection of the marks showed that it was a symbol, but the rest was hidden around the chicken-scratch that she could only just make out. It was frustrating, but Nerissa knew that there had to be some way to reveal whatever the map was hiding. First, though, she had to get some answers from her favorite drunk pirate captain…
"Jack?" she asked sweetly, looking at his depressed form sitting at her right. He jerked in surprise and turned towards her. "Were these marks here on the map when you got this?"
He squinted, either to get a better look at the map or to try and remember, she couldn't tell which. Jack sat that way for several minutes, trying to think through his rum-fogged brain. In an effort to be patient, Nerissa sat back and watched Jack work his mind in order to answer her question. It was actually entertaining to see his expression change as he thought, but after ten minutes of waiting, she decided to take a few drastic measures. Reaching over, she grabbed one of the braids hanging from his beard and pulled. Jack gave a small yelp of surprise before glaring at her.
"What was that for?" he said, rubbing his sore chin.
"I asked you a question and you didn't answer," she calmly replied. "Which was, may I remind you, about the marks on the map! Were they already here when you got it or not?"
Jack sighed. "No, they weren't," he said, leaning back in his chair. "I think they appeared after I had a lemon wedge battle with Mr. Cotton's parrot, which had somehow managed to get into my cabin while I wasn't looking."
Nerissa did her best not to laugh. "A lemon wedge battle with Cotton's parrot?" she said, her voice filled with mirth at the image of man versus parrot, dozens of lemon slices flying through the air between them. "Who came out the winner in that one?"
Jack muttered a vague reply under his breath and ordered himself another mug of rum. She let him…after all, she had all the information she needed right at her fingertips. Besides, how much alcohol did the man need to have before he was thoroughly drunk?
Two Hours Later: Author's POV:
After watching Jack drink down another tankard of rum, Nerissa felt ready to take the thing and smack him over the head with it. She honestly didn't know how he could managed to still be in his seat after ten rums, but there he was, getting ready to order another one! Sensing that she should put a stop to this before things got out of hand, Nerissa reached out and grabbed Jack's hand before he could summon a serving wench and order more rum. Jack gazed at her with vacant, drunken eyes; that was when she knew that he'd had enough for the night. Sighing, she patted him on the arm.
"It's time to go, Jack," she said in a falsely cheerful voice, even adding a smile to her face for effect. "Are you ready?"
Jack merely smiled at her. "You know, luv, you're really beautiful," he slurred, leaning towards her. "I just love your hair, and the color of your eyes just makes me want to-"
"Alright, I think you've had enough, Captain," Nerissa quickly interrupted as she tried to help him stand up. "Let's get back to the Pearl, huh?" Jack merely smiled and nodded as she led him out into the street.
Thankfully, the trip back was fairly uneventful. Jack kept falling over things only he could see until Nerissa wrapped his arm around her shoulder to try and keep him upright. This turned out to be a bad idea on her part, since Jack soon began hold her close and tried to flirt with her as they walked. She only rolled her eyes and ignored him, focusing on getting them back to the ship without getting robbed or killed. One good thing was that, since Nerissa had Jack's arm flung around her shoulder, the whores of Tortuga merely ignored them, thinking that he was taken for the night and allowed the two to pass unhindered to the Black Pearl.
Nerissa was extremely thankful when they reached the ship; her rear end hurt from where Jack had occasionally pinched it, and her shoulders ached from trying to hold him upright as they walked. After depositing Jack in his cabin (where he promptly passed out on his bed) Nerissa headed to her own cabin, taking the map and a few lemon slices with her. Seated comfortably at her desk, she proceeded to use a clean cloth to gently dab the fruit's fragrant juice on the marked sections so as not to destroy or mess up anything.
She was rewarded with not one distinct symbol, but two. One was in the shape of a blazing sun, three initials set in the center of it. The other was that of a bird hovering over waves…the symbol of the Sirens. The bird symbolized the freedom that the Sirens had, and the waves told of their love for the sea, their home and livelihood. The sun symbol was one Nerissa recognized from her lessons, which was linked to one of the land-living members of the Sirens, one of the women who had married a landsman to provide intelligence to the Siren community. And from what she'd heard, the Clarence family was currently spreading out into the pirate towns in the Caribbean because of the booming rum and sugar industries, as well as to spread their spice market.
Sitting back in her chair, Nerissa bit her lip in thought. This could be tricky, but it could be done. Dealing with members of her own Siren family would prove difficult, but since her mother had been a Siren captain, that gave her an advantage. Now all she had to do was talk Jack into it…
The Next Day: Nerissa's POV:
"No, absolutely not!" Jack snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.
Nerissa sighed. 'This would be so much easier if he weren't hungover,' she thought to herself. Aloud, she said, "Jack, I can guarantee that I can get this map with little or no bloodshed. All I'll need is you and a few of your biggest crewmembers with me, and they'll basically hand over the map half with no fights or arguments."
"Darling, the Clarence family are not only nobles, but they are violent, merciless nobles who don't like people getting into their business," he said, glowering at her with hard brown eyes. "They won't take kindly if you walk into one of their warehouses or homes and demand something from them with nothing to trade or offer in return!"
"Do you trust me or not, Jack?" she snapped at him, hands on her hips as she looked him straight in the eye. "Because if you don't, just tell me right now!"
Jack sighed. "It's not that I don't trust you, luv, it's just that I don't like the idea of facing the Clarence clan," he said, reaching out and taking her gently by the shoulders. "I've faced them before, and they're hard ones to talk out of killing you once they get the idea into their heads."
"Nothing will happen, Jack, I promise," Nerissa softly replied, her own hand reaching up to rest on Jack's cheek in reassurance. "And if I'm right, this treasure of yours will be ours, with only a small share going to the Clarence family."
Sighing, Jack pulled away from her touch and released her. "Alright," he muttered, reaching for his weapons. "Let's do this, then."
Two Hours Later: Jack's POV:
He honestly didn't know how he'd let Nerissa talk him into this. Maybe it had been her touch on his face, or the look in her eyes that convinced him, but Jack couldn't be sure. Either way, the two of them, plus Franklin, Thompson, and Jones, were with them in this mess. They had walked into town, weapons at their sides, following Nerissa to a house that she had gotten directions to from a rather shady-looking sailor at the docks. She had boldly walked up to the door and knocked, waiting for an answer. A butler that looked like a mountain with black hair and outfit answered.
What happened after that was somewhat of a blur in Jack's mind. Nerissa had moved her hands in a certain way and the butler had let them in with little trouble. Jack and his crewmen kept their fingers on their pistols and swords at that point, but Nerissa had remained eerily calm. They followed the mountain of a butler down a hallway and into an office, where a blond man of obvious wealth sat, his quiet moment interrupted as the five pirates entered. Nerissa had made the same gesture as before and the man commanded the butler to leave at once. Jack and Nerissa were offered seats, which they took as they proceeded to wait and see who made the first move. The blond man (obviously a Clarence family member) stared at them with striking blue eyes, which were enhanced by his white silk shirt and blue coat, both trimmed with gold embroidery.
Surprisingly, it was Nerissa who spoke first. "I don't have all day, Edward, so I'll make this brief," she said, leaning back in her chair with an unusually relaxed business-like manner. "You have half of a map and we want it. You'll get a nice quarter of the treasure in exchange for it, and we'll leave it at that. What do you say?"
Jack nearly swallowed his tongue at her blunt mannerism. Was she mad? The Clarence family didn't do anything for less than half (if not all) of the profits involved in a venture. Was Nerissa trying to get them all killed? Even Jack had never tried to do anything remotely involving this family of insane cutthroats! After all, he wasn't stupid. Watching his crewmen stiffen at her boldness, Jack tried his best to resist the urge to strangle the girl and just kept his hands near his weapons as they waited.
AN: Okay, bad place to end a chapter, but it would be too long if I didn't end it here. Please don't kill me! (Ducks and hides behind life-size Jack Sparrow cardboard cutout) I'll update soon, promise!