Disclaimer: Not mine

A/n: I promised myself I wouldn't take on another story until I finished my first one. Oh well. Enjoy.

Pearl of the Sea

Chapter One: The Final Prediction

Silvery and bright, the moonlight slowly wept down from the heavens as the last candle was snuffed out for the night. The fog had rolled in late afternoon that day in London and most of the city had closed their doors early in hopes of keeping the cold out. Spring was fast approaching but winter wanted to go out with a bang. The only life that could be found was in the Twelve Barrels tavern and even there the cold seemed to have drained most of the merriment. A group of men sat in one corner speaking in such low tones it would have been possible to hear a pin drop, across the tavern a lone sailor sang a melancholy song of home in a thick Irish accent, and the barmaids stood huddled a small group in the corner talking about the latest gossip.

Of course, neither the secretive bunch, the Irishman, nor the barmaids were the reason the most wanted man in the Americas was making his way across the city to enter the Twelve Barrels. It wasn't the fine spirits they served either, but the lone woman who sat in the corner. Her hair fell to her waist, gray with age and curling wildly, her clothes were tattered and her grin filled with gaps where teeth used to be, but this hardly mattered to the criminal. What he wanted from this woman was information and nothing more.

No one knew where this woman had blown in from. She spoke broken English and Spanish, her name was Italian, and she looked French, but the thing that made her the most memorable was her talent of foresight. She was a gypsy, but her name was Strega, Italian for witch. She was left alone for the most part by the frequent visitors to the Twelve Barrels; that was unless they needed a prediction from her.

This happens to be the reason the scandalous thief was on his way to that very tavern, heavily cloaked for not only warmth but also disguise. As his large sailor boots clunked across the threshold and his large hands pushed open the door a breeze skittered through the room and the whispering and singing turned to the chattering of teeth until the door was shut firmly. The piercing black eyes of the man landed upon the whispering group of men and his deep voice echoed through the chilled room, "Stand guard."

"Aye Captain." The men, who were apparently the crew,uttered before taking positions around the large wooden door.

Removing the heavy cloak there was no denying who the man was. His name was Edward Teach, but his was better known as Blackbeard. His nickname's origin was obvious, the great bushy thing jutted from his chin as though it had been growing since the day he was born. The only person in the room who seemed completely unphased by the sudden realization of Captain Teach's appearance was Strega. Of course, she had known he was coming.

"Edward, I wondered when I would be seeing you. Take a seat m'dear." Her voice was strained and cracking. She sounded as though she was an old rusted up door hinge that needed oiling. The barmaids, who had been frozen still in utter horror since the arrival of the Captain, let out a gasp at the crotchety old woman's informal tone with Blackbeard, but Teach seemed unphased and he did as he was told. His small wooden chair creaked underneath him as he pulled in closer to the table.

"Strega," His voice seemed to boom, even when he spoke quietly. "I heard a rumor you had a vision involving myself and an event I would most definitely like to put off for as long as possible." He had the voice of an educated and wealthy man, which he was, but there seemed to be a small hint of a man who had spent many months surrounded by nothing but men and water.

"Did yeh now? Well, I must say you heard correctly, but it will cost you." Her wobbly old hand reached out waiting for her payment. Teach placed the required coins in her palm and watched as her wrinkly fingers wrapped themselves around it greedily. "Well, it starts with a grave mistake, and then a horrendous battle, followed by death for you and your entire crew."

The Captain squirmed in his chair and grunted before shaking his head. "That's what I was afraid of. I have two more questions for you Miss Strega and then I shall leave you to your brandy. Is it preventable and who takes me down?"

The old woman smiled a toothless smile before placing her palm on the table. "That'll be two more pounds." Only after a sigh, a grunt, and the handing over of more money from the pirate did the old woman continue. "My visions are only maps of the future and there are always shortcuts and new discovers to be charted. Secondly, you will meet your fate with the Pearl of the sea."

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" Spat Blackbeard, completely unsatisfied with her answer.

"Whatever you wish it to mean dear Edward."

A deep frown cut through the Captain's face before he sneered and jumped to his feet. "I thought you were supposed to be a gypsy, not some damned confusing banshee." Pulling on his cloak and stomping toward the door he made a gesture with hand to his men. It was obviously a practiced routine and as Edward Tech pulled on his gloves and made his way back toward his ship he heard the gunshot.

Strega had made her last prediction and Blackbeard was sorely unhappy with it. And when Edward Teach didn't get what he wanted, well, things became ugly from there on out.

It was back to the Americas with the Captian and his crew, back to find the Pearl of the sea.

Back to the Americas to destroy this so called Pearl before it destroyed him.

I recently recieved a book on Pirates and while reading the section on the most infamous of all I was inspired. So, if you would review, 'yaying' or 'naying' the backstory here whileI write the next chapter I would be the happiest fan fic writer in the world.