"I never thought I would forgive the sea after what happened to my family…but you've really shown me it can be both beautiful…"

"And very dangerous," he finished, a small smile formed around the end of his pipe as he watched the waves curl up the sides of the ship. "But you're right, it's very beautiful. You just need to understand how it behaves, and then that danger becomes smaller with time."

Maria just continued watching out in the distance, as though there were things she could see in the vastness that no one else could. It was one thing about her that Davy absolutely adored; her now shared fascination in the sea. It was a great love they could share together alongside their own for each other.

"Just be careful not to lean too far over the edge, you might-" Just as he began to give her the warning, she suddenly tumbled right over the railing and out of sight. His expression turned to horror as he dropped his pipe and ran over to the side, expecting with utter dread to look down and see her floating atop the water turquoise waters.

Instead, he saw her grinning mischievously up at him from a small ledge that she had purposely fallen onto.

"Boo!" Meris shouted, suddenly popping out from an old foghorn that jutted rustily up from the deck. Treva had nearly jumped out of her skin; Meris was covered in dust and had appeared as swiftly as any spirit might have, and once she'd given him a good boxing for spooking her, she sent him to help Bill with whatever duties he had.

It had already been a week since she had become a part of the crew and ship, and still her meaningless task continued. But she noticed a difference; the other members of the crew were beginning to become less malicious towards her. Many of them just ignored her and paid her no mind, which she preferred far more than the harassment they'd given her when she'd first arrived. Though Davy Jone's first mate, the hammerheaded pirate Beauregard Dougal, always seemed to be keeping an eye on her. Beauregard wasn't afraid to make her job more futile than it was, knocking over stacks she'd made of various material that had been scrubbed from the floors and sides.

"I think there's something alive here…" Treva commented one day as she cleaned out one of the large, murky closets the ship, seeing some fleeting shadows as she moved rusted chains and broken barrels aside.

"Unless it's a stowaway, I don't care…" Beauregard said gruffly, his arms crossed and his figure a menacing addition to the corridor outside of the closet. Meris had attempted to see her earlier only to be scared off by the hulking pirate.

"You will if you wake up finding it nibbling on you…" Treva said, sitting up and wiping off her forehead. She cringed as the mussels tore into her arm; she still wasn't used to the inhuman growths that randomly sprouted from her head, since the pain had finally subsided.

"Hmph, I'd gobble it up before it got within ten paces from me…" he said with a slight snarl, revealing his rows of shark teeth that gleamed faintly in the lantern light. "Besides, that's part of your job, maid. You gotta kill whatever damned creatures you find on board…"

Treva just gave him a look behind his back and then got back to work, finishing her cleaning and moving on to the next room. She didn't see the creature again thankfully and once she was done she went looking for Meris outside. She found him attempting to help Bill hoist up one of the sails, which was no easy task for anyone, especially a small child. She smiled as she watched Bill secretly helping Meris do so, commenting on his amazing strength while discreetly doing all the work himself.

When the sail was finally in the appropriate position, Meris scampered over to Treva and wedged himself in her arms. By now, she had only three finger-like appendages to each hand and thin webbing between them, and her hair was beginning to grow back in some patches while she remained bald in others. She'd also noticed that the fleshy part of her nose was beginning to harden lately, but she tried to not think anything of it.

"Mommy, did you see how I put up that sail? Bill says I'm really strong…" Meris said proudly, pointing upwards at the rotted fabric of the sails that wafted in the afternoon breeze. She smiled, though the damp reek that came off of it was making her stomach turn slightly; she wondered just how everything on board always seemed so wet and moist, even if they were at sea.

"Yes, that's very impressive Meris…you are very strong…" she said with a small smile, ruffling his hair slightly before the boy released her and ran off, beginning to climb atop some crates in order to see over the side.

"Thanks for that, Bill…Meris needs to have someone like you around, especially during these times…" Treva said, and Bill nodded as he wrapped the rope holding the sail through a rung hanging out of the mast.

"Think nothing of it…he reminds me of my son, Will, back when he was very young…" Bill said, attempting to keep his expression from saddening even with the remembrance.

"You've mentioned your son quite a few times…you must miss him," Treva said, helping him to tie the knot in the rope; Bill's hands were shaking and she noticed they were becoming more and more covered by scaly forms and shells.

"I do miss him, greatly…" Bill said, his voice shivering slightly despite the humid heat outside. "But…I would never want him to see me like this…I don't think he'd even recognize me if he did see me again. The time that has passed and the distance between us is a blessing in disguise." But his voice didn't sound too convinced of this; Treva could detect more and more sorrow beginning to slip into his usually calm façade and tone.

"You don't truly believe that, do you?" Treva said, standing erect again and wiping the slimy residue from her hands when she was done fiddling with the rope. "Look at Meris and myself…even with me in this state, he still knows I'm his mother, and he still knows I love him. I think Will would think the same thing, regardless of what's happened and how long it's been…"

Bill looked as though he wanted to believe her, the sadness in his eyes beginning to subside slightly as he just sighed quietly and looked out to sea. Treva was right about to speak to him again when suddenly she was interrupted by a voice from above.

"That's the reason he gave up his time of Judgment…" Davy Jones said from the Helm, looking down at them both with an expression of contempt. "The futile love for his son, and the want to see him again. But of course, when he was promised this he didn't realize just how much of his humanity he would lose…"

"I know of my mistakes, it is not necessary to point them out…" Bill attempted to contain the anger in his voice. "The past has been dredged up enough, and there is little future for any of us. I'm…letting my wish die…" he walked off and down into the bowels of the ship. Treva was going to stop him, wishing there was something she could say to comfort him, but she reasoned he may want to spend this time alone instead.

She looked up at the Captain disdainfully. "Why are you always so cruel to those who serve you?" she was slightly angry, but confused as well. Here were many men as well as herself who had pledged their very existence to him, and yet he treated none of them with any sort of respect or thankfulness. But then, she supposed that a pirate as hardened as Davy Jones probably thought of little outside himself.

"And why do I owe any of you pity? I gave Bill what he wanted, the chance to see his child again; it is not my fault he's too cowardly to face William in his altered state…" the Captain's wooden leg stabbed against the floor as he walked down the stairs slowly. "And you will learn to speak to me with more respect, unless you want our bargain thrown out…"

Treva gulped but kept with her expression of slight anger. Davy Jones approached her without a word, and then suddenly he reached out and seized a handful of her hair in his slimy hand. She yelped and winced with pain as he snarled down at her. "I don't like your tone, or your manners. You might have been some high society gentlewoman when you were on land, but out here you're nothing but a scullery maid and nothing more." He let go of her harshly, letting her drop onto the floorboards before he returned to the quiet of his quarters deep into the ship. She listened to his footsteps slowly disappear, then got back up and continued with her duties.

She knew Davy Jones could easily turn back on the promise he'd made to her, and being a pirate he would do so in the blink of an eye if he questioned her loyalty. Though in her mind she was always tossing about possibilities on how to escape, first she wanted to satisfy her curiosity about both Bill and the Captain of the Flying Dutchman himself. Regardless of the masks they wore and how much humanity they each had left, there was more to them than she could see on the surface. And perhaps if she could discover what was troubling them both, she could find a way to improve upon the darkness of this ship before she ever attempted to flee from this fate.

'Tonight, I'm going to pay a little visit to the Captain…'