Not only had the place a marvelous library, it also contained an enormous steam room, which the pirate proclaimed as the hub of hygiene. All had been rather impressed with the tiled baths and saunas, but they did not compare to the waterfalls cascading from the ceiling. The pirate had called those "cascades of cleanliness", and all had oohed and aahed delightedly at the idea of a contained alternative to the bath. Elizabeth, to Will's amusement, had looked most intrigued, and thus he was glad for the sake of propriety that Jack had quickly led the group to the tour's next destination. Through a door they'd went, Will and Elizabeth unable to take their eyes off the other, walking right into the surprisingly comfortable and relatively cozy crew's quarters.

It was a space bigger than that of the dining room, certainly double the size of it if what Will saw was accurate, and rather well-appointed. Swags of silk were looped around the wooden beams of the ceiling from which they fell, swaying, to sweep the floor. There were rows of wooden bunks, all handsomely carved and decorated with various personal items of each man—or woman—of occupancy. In the center of the space was a rectangular recreational area. Long, cushioned seats and a long, lacquered table took residence there. The pirates had set up a card table, and opposite it a board for Hazard. They'd set up a library of sorts of their own, dog-eared books and faded news sheets stacked on a low table between a number of odd, overstuffed chairs. Nearby, Will noted, someone had tacked numerous posts upon the wall.

Curious, he set foot toward them and was rather amused to find each and every one to be of the series depicting infamous criminals wanted by the King's men. The sort was rather popular in the colonies as well as England. Under each sketch was the name or names of the particular pirate as well as his list of crimes and a few words of caution as to his or her likeliness to cause a ruckus upon the meeting of their acquaintance. Will was not surprised to find familiar faces sketched upon them, nor surprised to see the same familiar face upon the majority.

"Ah yes," Jack said, a fond smile flashing upon his countenance, "me wall of fame!"

The declaration drew a snort from Will as he read.

Captain Anamaria Soledad, aka Ana Marie aka Marie aka the Dark Phoenix aka the Rising Phoenix aka Sparrow's Phoenix aka the Setting Sun. Crimes numerous in number and wickedly depraved, most importantly several counts of pyracy, smuggling, and arson. Carries many weapons on her person not limited to but certainly including a dagger, cutlass, and blunderbuss.

"They forgot," Jack said, "that the woman packs a most powerful punch."

"And her slap?"

"That too."

Joshamee Gibbs aka Mr. Gibbs aka Gibbsy aka Jay Gibbs aka the Sullied Sailor. Dereliction of duty, desertion, depravity, drunkenness, pyracy, and treason. Carries a cutlass. Frequently seen sipping a nameless drink from a capped flask kept tucked in his shirt.

"Nameless me bum," Jack huffed. "I'm thinking it's me expensive rum. Stuff disappears too fast and despite my love of the blessed fire of honey it simply can not be only me salted self sipping it."

"Not that you would remember, Jacky."

"Not remember drinking the rum?" Jack stood on his tiptoes, brows knit at the big man. "How could I forget that?"

Mister Cotton aka Cotton aka Quiet Cotton aka Cottonmouth. Briganding, looting, murder—

"Murder?" Will had thought the same but Elizabeth had been the one to speak up. "Surely not Cotton?"

"Easy to pin a crime upon a man with no tongue to speak for himself, aye?"

"Someone cut me tongue out I'd strangle the bastard," Samson declared.

"Ahhh," Jack breathed, cocking his head in contemplation, "that very well could've been the case."

Captain Winter aka Captain Liss aka Alice Winter aka Lissa Winter aka Dollilocks aka Dove aka Sweet Queen aka Ice Queen of the Caribbean aka Alice Sparrow—

"Not quite," Jack put in, face souring. "Still can't believe they posted that. And over the whole of London!"

—aka Sparrow's Doll—

"Puts a real damper on me social recreation, I'll tell you that!"

—aka Sparrow's Dove—

Jack scowled. "Very likely the reason for all the laughter me name's met with these days."

"Nothing else it could possibly be," Elizabeth said.

Jack sighed. "I know!"

—Falsification, forgery, uttering, impersonation, sailing under false colors, arson, blackmail, jailbreaking, smuggling, pyracy, sorcery—

"A witch?!" Elizabeth's eyes widened.

"Well," Jack said with an impish grin, "some accounts recounted by certain anonymous sources to certain authorities were perhaps slightly skewed or of a fallacious sort, but applicable nonetheless."

Will chuckled.

—and treason. Said not to carry a single weapon but is considered highly dangerous, especially to those of the male persuasion—

"That," Jack clarified, "is the honest truth."

—Seen most as companion to criminal pyrate Jack Sparrow.

"Well that's one way of putting it."

But there were many ways of putting it, Will read.

Captain Jack Sparrow, aka Captain Sparrow aka Jack Sparrow aka Jacques Moineau—

"French, William. You must learn it," Jack suggested.

—aka Jacques Spurrowe aka Jack of Hearts aka Jack of Spades aka Jack of Pearls aka Black Jack aka Cracker Jack—

"Think they forgot one form o' Jack," Samson boomed.

Jack shot him a dark look.

—aka The Most Reverend and Right Honorable John Hawkes aka Lord Archbishop Hawkes aka J. Hawkes aka Jack Hawkes aka Lord Chancellor John Finch aka The King's Chancellor John Finch aka Chancellor Finch aka J. Finch aka Captain Starling aka J. Starling aka Jack Starling aka Master Johnathan Starling. Impersonating a cleric of the Chuch of England, an officer of the crown, an officer of the British Royal Navy, an officer of the Spanish Royal Navy, and the son of the King's Navigator Pilot Major Starling both deceased. Pyracy, high treason, smuggling, falsification of Letters of Marque and Reprisal, stealing, sailing under false colors, arson, jailbreaking, kidnapping, looting, poaching, brigandage, pilfering, depravity, depredation, and general lawlesslness.

"That," Jack said, "is the most accurate list." He sighed sadly, shaking his head. "Though they're missing more than a few of my accolades…"

--- --- --- ------- () ------- --- --- ---

"What… 'accomplishments and accolades as yet undocumented'," Alice Witter read aloud from a page, "'corruption of several hundred minors, several counts of defamation most likely considered criminal libel—The Review: vol. 3 twice, vol. 4 thrice, vol 5. Perukes and Periwigs of the Primfolk at Port Royal—la defleuraison d'une belle dame—' nice touch," she had to admit, "the French. Or his variation of the language, as it were." She scanned the rest of the page, shaking her head. "If Jack Sparrow is known for anything," she murmured, "it's his big black boat."

"Ship," Isaac said, lifting his forefinger from the book he was flipping through. "The Black Pearl is a ship."

The correction crinkled her brow. Irritated, she tossed the brown book aside. Her search for the black-bound tome she'd previously had in her grasp had left in its wake a dissheveled trail of parchment, charts, and open books. From the mess she looked up at the lad.

Yet seated at the roundtable he'd been upon her return, and seated still he was. Back straight he sat in the same chair, gaze upon the yellowing pages of the passage he read. His blue eyes were steadily skimming the text when they glanced her way. Startled to find her watching him, he jumped. His gaze fell upon the mess at her fingertips and he raised a brow.

"I can not find it," she told him.

"Find what?"

"The black book I was reading," she huffed, smacking the top of the brown book as if it were somehow responsible for the black book's going missing, "has disappeared."

"Ah," Isaac said, a smiling lifting the corner of his mouth as he went back to his book, "well it's not customary for Jack to leave his little black books lying around in plain sight of prying eyes."

"Yes I know," she said, stalking t'ward a cabinet. From one of its pigeonholes she plucked a bottle of wine and from its shelf she took a gilded corkscrew. Popping the thing, she took a resolute drink of the rich scarlet stuff. Its ripe berry flavor burst in her mouth and she raised a brow, turning the bottle to eye the label. "Good year," she decided, taking another swig and popping the cork back in. "So when Jack puts his books away…"

Isaac didn't look up at her as she leaned over his shoulder.

She smiled. "Where does he keep them?"

His gaze rolled back to find her and when it did, he smiled back. "In a locked box," he said, turning back to his book, "to which only he has the key."

"Blast."

"Yes," he said, "I think that's probably why he puts that particular text away. Dangerous when explanation of the mechanics of gunpowder is left on a ship for any man's perusal, I'd imagine." He reached up and twirled one of her soft curls around an accusing finger. "Could result in an explosive situation."

Alice frowned.

"Don't worry," Isaac said, smiling down at the silk twined 'round his forefinger. "I didn't tell him you were reading it."

She smiled, all traces of paranoia slipping away. Every possible snitch she'd sniffed out and each had met her approval. Satisfied, she turned her gaze down upon the lad and nodded at his book. "What are you reading?"

"The Odyssey," he said, pointing at an illustration of a wide-eyed goddess looking upon a calm hero as he drank from a flask filled with one of her potions, "Odysseus has just fooled Circe."

"Such tripe that Homer wrote," she said, shaking her head. "As if any man could outwit a woman!"

--- --- --- ------- () ------- --- --- ---

Gibbs couldn't help but pause at the kitchen, for the heavenly aroma that was Cook's cooking had quite a hold on him. He stopped at the door, stomach rumbling at the smell of roast pig, and watched as the spectacled man stirred a cauldron of bubbling chocolate. The sight brought tears to Gibbs' eyes, it did, as well as a wealth of saliva to his mouth. Before he'd the chance to drool outright, he sighed sadly and continued on his way.

In the great white room he found the very pair of pirates he'd meant to find. There upon the davenport were Anamaria and Roth, oblivious to him as much to anything else save each other. The two were entwined in what looked to be a sloppy sort of kiss, the sort that made Gibbs roll his eyes. Unwilling to watch any more of the display, he cleared his throat and was relieved to see their instant parting.

Anamaria scowled at him.

"Don't be givin me that look, Marie," Gibbs said, "Ye got a room somewhere 'round here. Use it!"

"Ain't no use for usin it till later," she spat, straightening her dress and lifting her chin as she strode t'ward him. "I've matters to attend to elsewhere."

Roth straightened his own vest as he made his way toward Gibbs. The sailor nodded his approval. Together they watched the woman stalk out of sight, and could not help but share smiles.

--- --- --- ------- () ------- --- --- ---

"And this," Jack said, "is where I stow me own boots."

Through a small round room with several doors, two of which had been from the crew's quarters, they'd come. The captain had tossed open the double doors to the room he showed now and flicked a flippant wrist toward its splendor. Though it certainly looked to be a space to be explored, Will hesitated at the threshold. His reluctance for the sake of propriety prompted Jack Sparrow to roll his eyes.

"Well I'd carry you over," the pirate said, looking him up and down with a frown, "but blushing bride you're not."

"Scuse me," said Jack, pushing past the two of them.

Both sets of brows raised at the boy's sudden lack of decorum, the pirate's knitting the instant he saw the beeline that his namesake made for the bed. "No jumping on the—"

Jack Turner, having paid no heed to him, bounced joyfully on the silken coverlet.

"Bed," Jack finished with a grimace.

Amused, Will stepped past him and turned around—and around again—to admire the room's accoutrements. With a small smile at the dismayed pirate, Elizabeth followed, sitting Little Lucy on her feet. The small girl's eyes lit up and she tore toward the bed, giggling with glee when her brother helped her up. Samson, clapping Jack on the back, quirked a brow.

"Kids, aye?"

Jack sighed. "Me fine Egyptian silk…"

If the room was simply the place the pirate stowed his boots, Will thought perhaps he'd gone overboard. The black walls sparkled. Parged with a mixture of the isle's dark sand they were, swirls of glossy black rock shining through. On the dome ceiling was painted a great round mural. In the center flew the sparrow, around it the red and indigo lines of the outer edge of the compass rose. Behind both was a golden star, its four points representing the cardinal directions. An incscription had been carved around the base of the dome in a language that Will could not read but knew all the same.

"The sparrow flies north, south, east, and west," he read, "but this is where he lay to rest."

"How is it you don't know French," Jack asked, "but you can read that?"

Will shrugged. "Intuition?"

"Aye," Jack said, arching a brow, "an aptly named language it is."

Two glass doors let in the light. Through them was visible a wooden arbor. Set in the black sand it was as well were the surrounding bunches of candles. It was draped in rustling red silk. Between the posts swayed a gilded swing and upon its red cushion sat a stack of thin bound books. It looked as if, Will thought, a rather romantic spot.

"How lovely," said Elizabeth, her gaze drawn to it as well. She crossed the space to the doors, opened them, and picked up the topmost tome. "Shakespeare, Jack?"

"What else?" The pirate lifted his chin and flicked a hand at the air. "Have you not noticed, Mrs. Turner, me romantic side?"

"Romantic?" Will's gaze fell pointedly upon the bed. "Is that what you call it?"

Though the children had made the thing their trampoline, it was still quite a sight to behold. From two black steps it rose up, its posts of spiral spun gold spindling toward the ceiling. Curtained in black silk it was, both sides tied back to the headboard which was an enormous thing of gilded swirls and doves and winged cherubs. The bed seemed an altar itself, dressed in sumptuous dark silk and satin, what with the many candles upon the curved stone shelves surrounding the head of it.

"That, Mister Turner," Jack said, pointing with a ringed finger at the spectacle, "is what I call a taste of the sublime."

"Get off of there," Elizabeth cried, running forward to whisk her complaining children away from the bed. "Uncle Jack said no jumping!"

"Nice work," Samson breathed to Jack.

"Aye," said Jack, though his smirk faded to a frown. "But I'll never get the crinkles out the silk now!"

--- --- --- ------- () ------- --- --- ---

On her way t'wards the Pearl, Anamaria saw a trunk toting Isaac. Much to her surprise, he smiled at her and uttered a quick greeting in their passing. She noticed his struggling to carry atop the trunk a basket of gifts and spotting Marty, she called the miniature man over and nodded t'ward the lad. With the extra weight lifted from his hands, Isaac dropped the trunk, spun on his heel and kissed her on the cheek. So surprised she was that she stood there well after they disappeared from view. Shaking herself from her stupor and smiling all the while, she flounced the rest of the way to the ship and was not surprised to find a stony-faced Ice Queen awaiting her presence with the ominously steady tap of her foot.

"Where," Alice Witter asked, "have you been?"

"Isn't it more important," Anamaria asked, "that I'm here now?"

Alice folded her arms.

"Don't give me that, Witter," Anamaria said, glad to throw the line in the woman's face as she glanced pointedly up at the crow's nest where two men, three less than the usual lookout, paid them no heed. "The wait was worth it."

Following the glance, Alice's foot stopped tapping. A flash of a smile crossed her face, and she nodded, pleased, at the woman with whom she'd been displeased only a moment before. "After you," she said sweetly, stepping aside and sweeping her arm out. "Ladies first."

Anamaria scowled at the woman's getup—the dress gone in favor of a shirt and breeches—and at her own. Such, she vowed, would shortly be remedied and the consequential title revoked. "Don't push me, Ice Queen."

"I wouldn't dare."

--- --- --- ------- () ------- --- --- ---

After a brief argument between Elizabeth and Jack Sparrow about the wrinkling of expensive silk and the fury brought out in those afflicted with finicky senses by such, the group had somehow managed to escape the pirate's bedchambers with all their wits, and heads, about them. Back into the round room they went, Jack closing the doors behind him and in the next moment swinging the third set open to reveal a narrow corridor. The pirate swiped a lantern flaming in a sconce upon the wall and swept it in front of him to light the way.

As Jack paused to light other lanterns along the way, Will raised his brows at his strange surroundings. That there were not windows to the outside contributed to the weirdness as well as to the darkness. As the lanterns were lit he saw that despite the incongruity of the narrow hall to the spacious others he'd walked through, it was not so bad as those still in a state of decay. The walls were perfectly parged and floor tiled neatly. No strange smells tickled his nose. There was not dust to stir. In fact, he noticed, the hall was one of the best kept they'd walked through thus far.

"Faust," Jack said, nodding at a gilt door to his left.

Will raised a brow.

A few paces and the pirate nodded to his left again. "Anamaria." At the next he paused to light another lantern, flicking his free hand toward the door. "Gibbs."

Curious, Will followed him closely down the hall, narrowly avoiding a collision when the pirate stopped short to light a torch.

"Samson," Jack said, reaching out and patting the door to his left.

"Kept it for me, did ya," the big man asked, clucking his tongue. "Jacky, ya didn't!"

"Oh," said the pirate, whisking a ring of keys from his pocket. In the air he tossed them, catching them with his finger and twirling them in a jingling chorus around it. "But I did." With the other hand he lit another lantern. He stepped forward only to pause.

The sudden stop caused the group to plow into each other, and Will, being at the front, received the brunt of it. Eyes wide, he threw his arms out and gripped the wall to steady himself. At the pirate's back he scowled, but after a few moments of stillness and silence, in which he discovered the pirate hanging his head with his own hands braced against the walls, he frowned. "Jack?"

"A moment," requested the pirate, shoving the lantern into an empty post, "just a moment."

For a moment, Will waited, and when it seemed Jack was simply not going to speak again, he reached a hand forward. He had to snatch it back, however, as his friend turned suddenly on his heel to face him. That the pirate's eyes shone so serious puzzled him. He frowned, concerned, for solemnity was a trait rarely exhibited by Captain Jack Sparrow.

"This," Jack said with a nod over his shoulder, "is it."

Author's Babble: In the movie, as Jack is to be hanged, an official reads a proclamation. As such is happening so are other things, and some dialogue does take the foreground as the reading recedes to the background. Every (web)version of the (final)script I've read has omitted those recessed parts of the reading and so I decided to do some work. Thus I do indeed have the actual reading and shall herewith share it. If any other fic writers have done the same I apologize for my ignorance to such and ask to be granted pardon. If such is absolutely impossible I suppose I'll simply have to face the noose.

Proclamation from Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of the Black Pearl actually reads:

Jack Sparrow, be it known that you have been charged, tried, and convicted for your willful commission of crimes against the crown. Said crimes being numerous in quantity and sinister in nature, the most egregious of these to be cited herewith—piracy, smuggling, falsification of Letters of Marque and Reprisal, impersonating an officer of the British Royal Navy, impersonating an officer of the Spanish Royal Navy, impersonating a cleric of the Church of England, stealing, sailing under false colors, arson, kidnapping, looting, poaching, brigandage, pilfering, depravity, depredation, and general lawlessness. And for these crimes you have been sentenced to be, on this day, hung by the neck until dead. May God have mercy on your soul.

In this story upon the wanted poster Jack claims is probably most accurate, I have inserted all the charges from the proclamation as well as a few others. Nicknames and warnings and other rot on the posters(save for the names Captain Jack Sparrow, Jack Sparrow, Captain Sparrow, Gibbs, Mister Gibbs, Mister Cotton, Cotton, and Captain Anamaria Soledad as they are property of Disney as applied to Pirates of the Caribbean) are of my own creation.

Capital crime of pyrate time was ridiculous, with well over 100 offenses considered punishable by death. Many pirates were tried for the following crimes…as well as many others. Arson is the act of setting a fire with intent to cause damage. Brigandage is the practice of organized robbery and plundering on land, and can be highway robbery. Defamation is an intentional false communication that injures another person's good name or reputation, while libel is the correct term for the written form of such. Depravity is the practice of any act deemed corrupt. Depredation is to engage in plunder, as in to engage in the taking of goods wrongfully and with force. Dereliction of duty is the act of avoiding any expected duty. Desertion is the act of abandoning one's post as a soldier or sailor. Drunkeness is the state of being intoxicated with alcohol. Falsification is the act of producing something lacking authenticity and attempting to pass it off as authentic. Falsification of Letters of Marque and Reprisal is the act of using fake documents so that one would not be charged with piracy, as Letters of Marque and Reprisal are a commission from government or King to capture vessels of an enemy nation. Forgery is the process of reproducing objects or documents with the intent to deceive. General lawlessness is the state of being justly lax. High treason is any act that constitutes a serious threat to the stability or continuity of the state—plotting the death of the Sovereign, violating those held dear to the Sovereign, waging war against the Sovereign, and aiding enemies of the Sovereign. Impersonation is to assume false identification. Jailbreaking is the act of breaking either oneself or another from prison. Kidnapping is the act of taking away a person against their will. Looting is theft by advantage of special conditions such as war or disaster. Pilfering is the act of stealing in small amounts so as to gain profit again and again. Poaching is the act of trespass for the purpose of stealing. Pyracy is robbery on the high seas. Sailing under false colors is the act of flying another country's flag to lure an enemy within firing range or other such advantageous act. Smuggling is the act of transporting goods or people to places they ought not be. Sorcery is the practice of invoking spirits or the use of charms to cause harm. Stealing is the act of wrongful taking of another's property. Treason is the crime of disloyalty to one's nation but is less offensive to the crown than high treason; anyone guilty of treason is considered a traitor. Uttering is the act of producing a forgery of a document of legal significance(a deed, title, or cheque) with the intent of passing it off as genuine.

Jack's notes of his own "accomplishments", which Alice stops to read in her search for the black book, contain a rather shamelessly swiped(I can't help it—I'm a pirate) historical bit. His "defamation" mentions published pieces in the Review, a periodical in the early 18th century. The Review was the work of Daniel Defoe—that's the same Daniel Defoe who wrote Robinson Crusoe as well as A General History of the Pyrates, The Life, Adventures, and Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton, and The History and Remarkable Life of the Truly Honorable Colonel Jack—in which the main character, who fancies calling himself Colonel Jack, becomes an assistant to a pickpocket called Will. Purely for my own amusement. Defleuraison is Jack's personal joke referring to the deflowering of a fine lady—most probably a French woman held in high regard who should otherwise have remained pristine in virtue.

Isaac is reading the Odyssey and has just finished reading the part in which Odysseus uses his cunning to fool Circe, the divine enchantress who has the ability or know-how to turn men into animals. When the hero drinks her potion he has in his system a special herb to counter it. The herb was given to him by Hermes, the messenger god who had told him what to expect from the goddess. Alice finds this to be ridiculous because, in her opinion, women always outwit men for man's lack of knowledge. She doesn't know that Roth and Gibbs have already played the part of Hermes to Jack's Odysseus. As for Odysseus/Jack, remember that in the story of the Odyssey, Odysseus wandered for ten years before returning to his beloved Penelope—same as Jack did before reacquiring the Pearl.