AN: Sorry for the long delay, family trip --;;; Thanks for all the reviews and I hope to keep pleasing. All standard disclaimers apply.

CHAPTER TWO: At The Black Mermaid

Sparrow and Sin stood on the dock at Tortuga.

"I guess this is where we part, lass," Sin said softly. Sparrow looked at him.

"I'm going up to the Black Mermaid, want to accompany me?"

Sin grinned. "Aye, Lass. Lead the way."

They set off. Tortuga was a lovely little town that everyone wanted to bring their family too. Sparrow scoffed. Lovely her ass. It stunk. Human waste was piling in the streets. Pirates drank like it was the end of the world. It smelled of feces and rum.

"Sin, do you know what I can use to get a pirate to agree to a deal?"

"Aye, Lass, rum."

Sparrow rolled her eyes. "I should have known. Where can I get barrels of it?"

"Who ya tryin' to convince, Lass?"

"Cap'n Jack Sparrow."

"A lot of rum, then," Sin said.

Sparrow laughed. A man walked up to her.

"Missy, how much ye be?"

Sparrow arched her eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

The drunk reached out to grope her. "How much?"

"You could never afford me." Sparrow grabbed her small knife a plunged it into the man's ribs. He went down smiling.

"Like a true pirate, Lass." Sparrow smiled. They continued up the streets until they came to the Black Mermaid. It was a small, two story, building that had seen better days. The sign was peeling, and the door was rusted, but there were no drunks outside and no waste.

Sparrow stopped Sin before they went in. "Do I really look like my father?"

Sin laughed. "Only the facial structure. That hair must be from your mother, the eyes too?"

Sparrow shook her head. Her honey brown hair blew around her. "No one knows where the green eyes come from. Thanks, I was starting to think I looked like another Boot-Strap."

They walked in laughing.

The first thing Morgan noticed was the lack of people. The bar was dark, and smelled of brewing beer. She wrinkled her nose in distaste, she hated that smell. The bar was a deep ebony, and no one was tending it.

"Hello?" Morgan called.

Suddenly, a head popped out from behind the bar.

"Hello, may I help you?" The woman had long black hair and icy blue eyes. Her skin was rosy and her smile ravishing.

"I'm looking for a job."

"Can you clean?"

"Aye."

The woman nodded. "You're hired." She looked at Morgan. "And you?"

Sparrow walked forward and set her hands on the bar. The bar tender looked down and saw a ring on her right hand.

"I see. So, you be looking for Captain Jack then?"

"Aye."

"He not been seen in near 18 years. Though…that ring…"

"He gave it to my father, William Turner."

"I see." Sparrow's attention was caught by a painting behind the bar. A beautiful Mermaid with a black tail swam in slow, yet sad, circles in a ship graveyard. A small black stone was around the mermaid's neck. Morgan jumped lightly over the bar and continued to study it.

All sound was drowned out. She only heard the ocean. Waves beating against the rocks, whales singing, seals chirping, the silent sounds of the deep. She was entranced.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder and she jumped, spinning to face the bar tender. The world began to spin, and dissolve around them. She heard Sin cry her name, and then she heard a sea gull.

Morgan's eyes snapped opened. She gasped and inhaled seawater.

"Be easy, Morgan Sparrow Turner, you can breathe here." Morgan spun around and felt her mouth drop open. The mermaid from the painting swam before her.

"Where am I?"

"In time, you are in time."

Morgan stared at her, and realization dawned. "You're the bartender!"

"Aye, my name is Maryia, and I am the guardian of the Black Pearl."

"Jack's ship?"

"No, the namesake of it," she pulled a small chain off her neck and held it out so Morgan could see. A tiny black pearl hung on the end.

Morgan reached out for it.

"No! Don't!" Maryia screamed as Morgan grasped the Pearl.

Morgan felt a heat race through her. She convulsed in the water. Maryia swam around her, not knowing what to do.

Images flashed through Morgan's brain. Maryia and a merman, swimming together and guarding the pearl together. A ship, disappearing as the man on the bow waved to Maryia.

The images blurred together until she couldn't make headway of anything. Then, one image came out. Jack Sparrow on the bow of the Black Pearl, heading for Tortuga.

Morgan convulsed again and her eyes snapped open. Maryia stared at her.

"It has chosen you as its new guardian. What did you see?"

"Captain Jack Sparrow pulls into Tortuga in four days."

"SPARROW!" Morgan's eyes snapped open. She was lying on the floor of the bar, Sin and Maryia were leaning over her. Maryia reached down and pulled her to her feet.

"Things are needing cleaning."

"Aye," Sin was smart enough to figure out that Maryia wanted to talk to Morgan alone. Maryia took Morgan upstairs and sat her on a bed.

"Morgan?"

"Who was the merman?"

"My mate…" Maryia sighed. "He disappeared, and that has rendered me incapable of guarding the Pearl. He was taken, about four nights ago."

"Four nights ago? That's when my parents were taken!" Sparrow said softly. She felt something heavy resting in between her breasts. She reached up to her neck and pulled a fine black chain out. On the end was the Pearl.

"I was looking for Jack so he could help me get my parents back. What if he helps get your mate back too? What if the disappearances are connected and they're together?"

"Would you truly look for him?"

"Yes, Maryia, just tell me what you can about the Pearl."

"I can't, for I know nothing. I only know that it chose you as its new guardian, and it may give you the answers in time."

Morgan frowned. "Four days…"

Maryia nodded. "Stay here until the time to go is ripe, then go to Jack's ship. He'll fight you, just so you know."

"No he won't. I'm giving him a shipful of rum."