This is the chapter that I have been looking forward to most. I've been thinking of doing one of these since way back in chapter 4. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, it's the YouJack Chapter!
Just keep in mind – You equals Ethel. Ethel equals You.
You open your eyes to fluttering candlelight illuminating the face of Captain Jack Sparrow. You find yourself lying on the floor without any recollection of how you got there. Then it all came flooding back to you. You were a pirate. You had the keys to the treasure and the man that was gently lifting you up and carrying you to his bed had the map to the treasure.
You: Jack is it true. What you just said. Am I really a pirate?
Jack: Yes love. One of the best I may say! Get some rest; you've had a very trying day.
CynicalReader: "Trying day?" TRYING DAY? She's been stabbed, drowned and fainted in the course of the past 24 hours!
As the door snapped shut, you closed your eyes, willing yourself to go to sleep. But with all of this new information in your teeny tiny Mary Sue brain, how could you? The bed was so comfortable though and your blankets so warm. You felt yourself slowly drifting off to sleep, borne upon the waves of slumber.
There were loud bangs and screams outside.
YoungReader: Omigod! The ship is under attack again! Run for your lives! Hide!
PickyReader: Again? Are we using old plots again?
Author: If you even bothered to pay any attention, you will notice those little thingumabobs on top indicate a flashback/memory/dream/prophecy/vision thing!
AllReaders: Oh.
The seaside port where you lived was under attack. You and your parents were together just inside the door of your house, prepared to make a dash for the fort. Your father had gathered his sword and pistol in order to defend his wife and daughter. The panic and fear between your parents was palpable, even to your 4-year-old self. Your father gave your tearful mother a hurried kiss before pressing something into her hand. He then turned to you and smiled. He kneeled down until he was at your eye level and pushed something that your tiny hands could barely grasp.
"Take this. If anything should happen to me, look for the treasure. Keep it secret and safe. Promise me that"
"What's going to happen to you dada?" You ask. He merely smiled grimly, kissed you on the forehead and whispered "I love you darling" before wrenching open the door.
Your family made it as far as the beach. Along the way, your mother who shielded your eyes from the slaughter carried you. But then, you feel your mother being yanked to the side and her grip of you loosens. Your father was too busy fighting off a pirate to notice. You fall onto the sand and watch your mother being dragged by a pirate towards a small rowboat. She screams and pleads for her daughter and you try to run towards her before being picked up roughly by a pair of dirty hands. You struggle around to scream for your father, but you see him dead on the ground nearby. You scream and cry so loudly that your captor knocks you unconscious.
Author: All right guys. Let it rip.
PickyReader: "Keep it secret, keep it safe"? Yeah, I'll do that … Gandalf!
CynicalReader: Well, at least that speech wasn't on her father's deathbed, as they always seem to be.
PedanticReader: Why does every sentence start with a personal pronoun?
ObsessiveReader: Was that supposed to be sad?
You wake up the next morning upon a hammock that was swaying slightly. You don't remember how you got there or have any memories before waking.
PickyReader: My gosh, there's more amnesia in this fic than a soap!
InattentiveReader: Are we still in the flashback?
AllReaders: (in unison) Yes.
There was something in your hand and you opened it, eager for some information on who you are. You find a silver 4 pointed star shaped pendant with a large, perfectly round black pearl set amidst it. Hoping for an inscription that'll give some clue to your identity, you turned it over only to find that it was blank.
Over the next 12 years, you worked on what you found to realise was a pirate ship. Learning the ways of the sea and how to fight took up the days when you weren't raiding or pillaging. You were named Ethel by the captain who took you in as a father. When he died, he gave you his ship, the White Swan for you to captain. The crew respected you as you led them to many victories and many of them sent home countless amounts of riches. There was nothing more in life that you wanted besides the open sea, your ship and your loyal and trusty crew. That idyllic life came to a close however on a balmy summer's night as you were heading towards Tortuga.
DUN DUN DUN! Oooh! Cliffhanger! No, not really, I'm just really tired and I want to get this chapter up.
For the most part, this was mainly an expository chapter, not a funny one.
You know the drill, review now … or else.
Boandpop – No way! Because that fic (you ARE talking about the LOTR on right?) was the reason I started writing too! It was seriously the most hilarious thing I've ever read and have been searching high and low since, trying to find it again.
Music nerd – Oh no! Don't cry! I'm still just as obsessed as ever. Remember, I did write this a few years ago, when POTC had been out for ages and I had already dissected it to death. I moved on a bit. I deleted what I moved onto in this posting because, well it is a bit dated. How interesting was that! Thanks for painstakingly counting the number of 'a' 'h' and '!' you used. It's dedication like that that makes me proud to be a ff writer. I LOVE your detailed account of the kiss. I honestly can't write that stuff, but if, by your permission, I could use it? … name the price and we may have an accord, savvy?
Merrybean – I shall keep rocking. Stupid Ben Assfleck. I hate him only because I LOVE Jennifer Garner and the thought of having that bloated and puffy man's baby is horrifying.
Ace's Buddy – Which episode was "Something Blue"? I'm not to familiar with the episode titles I'm afraid except for like the really major ones like "Hush" and "Innocence" or was it "Innocent"? Can't remember. Inundated is good. Like to be swamped or overwhelmed.