Rather long chapter, and perhaps not so good. Every writer has an off day. XD


They had arrived at the docks of Port Royal, the last place of visual said by Anamaria.

There was no sign of him.

"You said he was here!"

Alia said, angrily now due to the fact they had been standing there for nearly an hour without having spotted him anywhere. Daniel glanced over at her, giving her a look that said she needed to calm down. Stress such as this only sped up the curse, sometimes to the point of fainting- something Alia definitely did not need to do.

"Miss, you must pay in order to dock here." The annoying voice of the harbormaster sounded once again beside them. Alia sighed, glancing over at him. "Fine.." She said, giving him the shilling he had repeatedly asked for.

Suddenly there was a noise in the town, and flashes of red coats could be seen through the buildings and alleyways. A round of guns fired, sending people fleeing from the streets and into their homes. They were apparently after someone, for the bullets continued to fly and the officers just kept running.

They were all just about to reach the head of the docks when the culprit appeared into view. And who else could it have been?

Jack.

He practically flew into the bushes, escaping the officer's vision just in time as they ran on by. Once they had left, he peeked out above the bushes, then casually stepped out and went on down the docks, apparently wanting to get out as fast as he could.

Unable to hold back, Anamaria stepped in front of him, hand to hid chest and giving him a slight shove back. Jack's dark eyes widened for a moment, before regaining himself and clearing his throat, smiling sarcastically. "Anamaria. How-" He was interrupted as Ana, out of a sudden rush of anger, slapped him. The sound was enough to make the other's cringe. Jack seemed to readjust his jaw for a moment, then forced a smile. "Nice to see you again."

Ana smiled, satisfied, before turning to Alia. "That was fun." She stepped back, pulling Daniel with her, giving Alia room. Jack's eyes once again widened at the sight of her, and he took a step back at the look of fury on her face. "A-Alia! You-you're all grown up.." His heels brushed the end of wood on the dock, the water being the only thing below him now. Alia smirked.

"And you're the same as always, I see. Still get all tongue-tied when you try to talk to women. Poor you. " Alia's comment caught him off guard, forcing him to chuckle in order to blow off a building steam. Alia continued. "I believe you can guess why I came."

"To see your ol' brother, of course."

"Funny. Where is the necklace?"

"The…necklace?"

"Yes, the necklace. At least the half you know is mine, for I couldn't care less about your half.

"A harsh choice of words, don't you think, sis?"

Alia's eye narrowed to mere slits. "Not harsh enough, if you ask me."

"Well you did ask me."

"And I answered you!"

Daniel stepped forward, having enough with this gibberish. "Okay, that's enough. Just get to the point." Jack's eyes narrowed, and he stepped toward Daniel with a dark expression on his face. "You….I know you. You're that French-navy boy, Danny."

"Not French, nor am I in the navy. Just have a knack for impressions." Daniel snapped back, smiling sarcastically. Jack opened his mouth to reply when yet another hand met his cheek. He cursed loudly this time, stomping his foot. "What is it with you women?" He rubbed his cheek, finding it had been Alia who had slapped him this time. "You want to know where it is?" He asked, smirking, bringing his face down to hers. "I sold it. But you can have this one in return. It's not of much use to me." Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a necklace, half a sparrow with intricate designs surrounding it in the form of a sunset. Alia shoved it back at him.

"Keep yours, you filthy scoundrel, unless you wish to hand you own life into my hands." Alia snapped, her voice filled with disgust. Jack raised an eyebrow, and Alia sighed, realizing he apparently didn't know. "Look, the necklace was cursed, when you broke it, the curse was released upon us both."

"And?"

"And…you might have wanted to check out what it really was you were taking before you stole it from me. You see, once you are separated from your piece of the cursed necklace, you have lost your own life source. To sum it up, I'm dying, thanks to you." Alia said, smiling by the end as if it were a casual thing. Jack seemed to be hardly paying attention.

"And I'm guessing I'm not dead because I've got my piece?"

"Yes."

"Lovely. Well, if you want to live, I suppose you'll have to go find it then. I have no clue where it is." Jack replied simply, beginning to walk away. Suddenly, he had three swords at his throat, which was enough to keep him standing there. The fury in each of their eyes practically burned holes through him. "You had better get a clue then, Sparrow, because if I die, you're going with me." Alia said, smirking. At Jack's expression, she quickly added. "Oh yes, if you had studied up as I did, you would have saw that the first to die takes the other along with them." Little to his knowledge, this was a complete lie; a lie well made up by Alia, of course.

Jack seemed to ponder this for a moment, before sighing loudly. He needed some excitement, anyhow. He glanced around at the ships, seemingly deciding which one to take. Alia hit his arm, gesturing toward the ship in which the rest of them had arrived. Jack raised his eyebrows, revealing rather tired eyes. "Alrigh' then." He made sure his hat was right on his head, then started down the dock. He halted, turning back to them with a matter-of-factly look in his face, holding up his hand to Alia and pointing a finger in her face.

"I'm Captain this time."