Chapter 3: When Pigs Fly

The man sent to escort us to dinner was familiar. I had seen him on deck earlier when Persephone and I had clashed into one another. He was very…well…scary looking. Dark mangled hair, hollow eyes, sunken face, and as gangly as a dead tree limb. We kept a little more distance from him than necessary, but it felt necessary to us. This also gave us more privacy to talk.

"So what did this…this Captain say to you?" Persephone asked, curiously, as we walked down across the ship rather slowly. The damn dresses! I wanted to just ball them up and stomp on them. Not only were they terribly ugly-they smelled of mildew.

I sighed, trying to ignore this. "Well…we didn't say terribly much…"

"There must have been some reason though, as to why he was giving you the strangest look of the century…" She stopped and I bit my lip. "Which…century would that be? This one or…ours?" Persephone held up a finger, mouth open…the closed it.

"Never mind."

"Well…it's like this…"

I stared at the man, unable to process what was going on. The man before me was…so strange. Dressed in worn clothes which consisted of navy breeches, a white shirt, tall brown boots, and his hair was situated in the strangest manner. Dreadlocks and braids had woven feathers, beads, gold and…was that bone?

I swallowed as hard as I could, trying to beat the lump in my throat. The almond shaped obsidian eyes gleamed from around nut meg skin, thanks to the Caribbean sun, the dark eye liner making it seem so much more…roughish. The Captain would have looked tired had he not been smiling, and as he coughed some sea water out of his lungs, the crew which surrounded us, was silent. I didn't let my eyes travel away from the Jack-Sparrow-look-a-like.

This couldn't be real…just couldn't be. I felt a soft touch of warmth on my shoulder, and glanced up to see a woman with slate colored skin, dark eyes and hair, and bright white teeth. She draped a blood red blanket over my shoulders and helped me stand. Someone had given him a thick and heavy coat that seemed as old as the ship itself. He blinked rapidly, and then nodded briskly to the men, waltzing up to me and the woman, who still had a firm hold on my shoulders.

"Good evening, Miss," He greeted in a very suave and smooth voice, flashing pearly white teeth and several gold ones too. The red bandana around his fore head was nearly plastered to his skin from the water, which dripped from both of our hair. The rain had calmed to a rocking mist that was very eerie. It had been so…so hostile only moments ago.

Thunder rolled above our heads, and I was so caught up in being anxious that I nearly missed the man's next words. "My name is Captain Jack Sparrow," He said dashingly, as if addressing a government meeting. "And this is my crew," He turned, waving an arm out in presentational form, gesturing to the crew who were now inching back over to stare.

"And this," He said swinging himself back around. "Is my ship, the Black Pearl. And," He leaned in close enough for me to have to lean back. "What might your name be?"

I shivered from the wind and wet, and felt a little sheepish that the woman was standing right behind me. I stuttered from my shaking, "P-Psyche…McPherson." I said after a minute of trying to will the shaking to stop. The Jack impersonator looked me up and down for a moment, eyes shining when he gaze rested back on my own again. He seemed a little befuddled, but seemed even more tired than I thought before.

"Right. Anna Maria will help you along into some dry clothes and you may rest in one of the empty quarters," He said with a dismissing wave of his hand. I felt a tug from the Anna Maria behind me, but something struck me…uncomfortable with what he'd said.

"Why…why can't I stay up here?"

The Captain stopped in his retreating steps, and I noticed some other pirates stop what they were doing to look on. I swallowed, feeling as if I'd said something stupid. The Imposter turned slowly around, and seemed to be trying to make up a very difficult decision. Using some sort of hand motions, he stumbled over himself, "Well-you see, it's not exactly-well-…it's not something that's…appropriate for a young woman-now is it?" He asked, trying to turn his answer around. I saw it too.

"But Anna Maria is a young woman. Why does she get to stay up here?" I asked, knowing he was pinning himself in his own corner.

His eyes shifted from side to side, his fingers twittering against one another. "Hmmm…well-yes, I suppose that's…true…all right, Anna Maria and you shall both stay-"

"Now hold on!" I heard the woman behind me raise her voice to a yell. I winced, feeling not only the vibration of her voice in my chest, but the grip on my shoulders tighten. "You know good and well that it's pure folly to put me down there! You do," She said coolly. "And you may not have a ship left." Jack's eyes widened and he swallowed.

"Yes…right…erm…" The crew seemed to glare at him, and I remembered something I had seen in the movie…using the best impersonation of Elizabeth I could, I waltzed up behind Anna Maria and put my arm on her shoulder restfully. "You aren't really going to tell me that 'it's bad luck to bring women aboard'? I mean, really! You could use an extra pair of hands…" I glanced around. "…and why would you want to put a working girl, such as myself, down below when I've grown up around ships and such?" Jack's eyebrows went up…along with the rest of the crew.

"You know how to work on a ship?" One asked from the side.

It was true. I had grown up on the Mexican Gulf, many times taking my dad's boat out. He used to work out on ships, and some times took me along as well. I nodded. "Of course."

"A girl who knows how to run a ship," Anna Maria began smoothly. "Should know how to swim." The entire ship seemed to see this, and looked at me with suspicion and glares. That was an easy one.

"I can swim…but…" I glanced around, pulling the blanket over me. I walked up to Anna Maria, and gestured her toward me. She looked bewildered but did so. I whispered in her ear. Seconds later, her eyes widened, nodding. "Aye! That'll do," She swiveled around to face Jack, who had been playing with a braid near his eye. He dropped it immediately, straightening up. "She can stay. Ain't no bad luck to speak of."

Jack leaned across Anna Maria to see me, staring me up and down again as if making sure I didn't have a rat crawling out from my sleeve or something. "You're sure she shouldn't…?"

"The hell she won't!" Anna Maria snarled. Jack laughed nervously, and I got the impression he wasn't exactly the one running the ship. I smiled.

"Erm…all right! She can stay but," He looked back at Anna Maria. "Get her something warm to wear." Anna Maria nodded, taking my shoulders again and walking me off like a little child.

"So...he thinks we're cursed or something." She concluded. "Brilliant."

"Not necessarily so. We shall remain a mystery!" I say, grinning. "Besides, they can't know that we're…you know…from the millennium. If they did, they'd think we were crazy."

Persephone glanced about. "Think about who the Captain is. Does crazy really matter on this ship?"

I opened my mouth to say something then closed it. "Right." I muttered.

"What convinced Ana?" Persephone asked curiously. I grinned and said, "I merely said that I'd help her run the ship if she took up for us."

Persephone's eyes widened. "We're not on the boat two hours and you've already got yourself in a debt. Wonderful." I merely smiled.

"So…where exactly do you think we are…as far as time line wise goes?" Persephone asked. We were brought to two double doors that stood on the exact opposite side of the ship. I recognized these from the movie too.

I thought about it, then said, "Well, Will said something about us being the size of Elizabeth, so if these are some of the dresses she used…they must already be married-"

"Lucky." Persephone grumbled.

"-which means we can't be too far from Port Royale…I mean, unless we're on some sort of adventure with treasure, exotic places and-" I felt a nudge in the ribs and stopped smiling at Persephone who had a flat look on her face. "You're doing it again."

"Doing? Doing what?"

"It."

"What's It?"

"It-as in 'talking-a-thousand-miles-an-hour-gibberish' it."

I gave her a pleading look. "Come on Percy! You can't deny us this! Look at our situation…pirates…Caribbean…treasure…open sea. What more could we ask for?" I struggled to keep my voice controlled.

She sighed. "Psyche, I don't think this is such a great idea. What if-"

The sudden rush of hot breath on my ear made me nearly jump out of my skin. "Please-" The voice said just as I spun around. The escort smiled with yellow teeth. "-ladies." He opened the door for us.

Inside was a dimly lit room, furnished in the old style clash between Victorian and Bermuda. Thick rugs cushioned our feet, a warm fire flamed from the hearth, and the smell of good food floated to our noses. Persephone twitched her nose like Samantha from Bewitched, which I had always thought was the coolest thing ever.

She smiled. "Smells good."

We stood there a moment, the feel of the escort's eyes on our backs. A voice from deeper inside the compartment pushed the thick air out into the night, "Ranger that will be all. Thank you."

Captain Sparrow.

Persephone flashed me a grin. I saw her mouth, "Johnny Depp…" And do a mini fainting impression for affect. I smiled and mouthed. "Will Turner…" And placed both hands over my heart. We were such goofballs.

Giggling softly, we walked forward where the long table came into view, both pirates present at the table. It was still hard to get used to the fact that Will Turner-Orlando bloody Bloom-was a pirate. He was so sweet…how could he be? Thinking of the movie, it was so plausible, but so hard to get around it.

Jack sat at the head of the table, Will on his right hand, both discussing something very quiet. Jack had his hat and coat off, relaxing and very different from the movie so far. He seemed…very tired. Will was just the same. They both, however, stood up when they saw us. Will tried to smile pleasantly but he looked as if he'd just tasted something sour.

Jack, however, had the audacity to voice what we were all thinking.

"Pardon, dear Ladies, but those have got to be the ugliest dresses on earth…" Persephone threw her arms up in the air. "Told you!"

Will chuckled a smile, shaking his head, and Persephone caught his eye for a moment, but it didn't last near as long as she would've liked. "We'll get you something better to where, once we're ashore." Jack said, the slightest bit of sincerity inching through his words. We both smiled sweetly. Jack looked to Will, a bit uncertain of what exactly to say next. Will gave him a meaning look, and Jack nodded.

We sat down, looking at all the delicious food. We hadn't eaten since the night before we left for the cruise. Our stomachs growled, and I was sure both men could hear them. I sat on the left hand of Jack, Persephone sitting across from me and next to Will. I rolled my eyes. After five minutes, she went into la la mode, and was totally oblivious to the fact she was checking out a married man.

I glanced at the table, my eyes falling on a tempting plate of fruit. My fingers twitched to a grape and quietly fingered it in my lap. I glanced at Sparrow and Turner, seeing that both were equally tired and deep in conversation. As fast as a gun shot, I beaned Persephone with the grape. It hit her square in the eyes, causing her to yelp.

The two men turned to her, surprised at her sudden out burst. I kept my eyes down, a bite of warm bread in my mouth.

"Something wrong?" Will Turner asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jack Sparrow looking at me most suspiciously.

"I'm not sure, I-" She shook herself. "Must be imagining things…"

I had to use my napkin to hide my smile. I looked up when I was addressed. Jack Sparrow gave me an amused and inquiring look as he said, "Is something wrong, Miss McPherson?"

I shook my head. "No, not at all. Thank you for asking, Captain." I said, struggling with laughter, but fortunately succeeding. It seemed the only two people who weren't getting it were Will and Persephone.

Surprise, surprise.

"As I was saying…" Will said, a little uncertainly. "We've tried everything and nothing works. I'm not completely sure what to do now."

Jack was still staring at me, and answered Will with a very throaty "Uh-huh…" I looked up at him and he smiled. "I'll have to see her then." He concluded, looking back at Will. I narrowed my eyes at him, passing a glance in between the Captain and then over at Will who glanced at me in return.

"Is there something going on that I don't know about?" Persephone asked, exasperated.

I raised an eyebrow at Will Turner as Jack replied, "Nothing, m'dear. Don't worry your pretty little head about a thing."

Persephone growled and Jack began to laugh a little nervously again.

"I-I mean…nothing."

The look that passed between me and Will was proof enough that this voyage to where ever we were going was going to be…fairly interesting. Just before we left to go to sleep, I caught Persephone giving Will the look. I shook my head, laughing softly. Yes, very interesting.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. We've both been pretty busy. BUT we're back! Mwuahaha-(ahem)

Anyways, Review please!

Au Revoir,

D.J.T. & Lemony Apple