Author's note: sorry it took so long for me to write this, but the dreaded writer's block got me in its clutches for a while. Anyway, enjoy this chapter.

Author's note part 2: I'm writing the location names in bold and italics (with the exception of the chapter title. That is just a title) to avoid confusion as to where each part of the story is taking place.

Chapter 6: The Plot Unfolds

"What a ship is…what the Black Pearl really is…is freedom."

"That's what yer 'opin' ta do?" Pintel said his eyes bugged out in shock after Elizabeth explained her plan to Pintel and Ragetti.

"Yes, Pintel." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "So, are you going to help me or not?"

"Aye!" Pintel grinned. "This'll be a good spot o' fun!" Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh at the pirate's enthusiasm.

"Yeah! I can' wait!" Ragetti nearly jumped with joy. "Say, will this make us, 'eros?"

Elizabeth smiled sweetly at Ragetti, who looked down shyly. "Yes, it will because you helped me."

Pintel rolled his eyes at Ragetti's antics before leaving the cabin she'd talked to them in. Ragetti, used to his attitude, simply followed him.

"I must say," Ragetti said, turning back for a moment, "you look nice in 'em pirate clothes. They suit ye."

"Oh, come on!" Pintel said, now angry. If his friend flirted anymore with Elizabeth, he was going to be sick.

Elizabeth chuckled at the two pirates. They were good men, after all.

With that thought in mind, Elizabeth mentally went over her plan one more time, as Jack had told her was always invaluable when trying to rescue people and or saving one's own skin.

The first phase was to find the "spell room" as Ragetti had called it. Apparently, it was a compartment in the ship that Barbossa thought nobody knew about. The contents, Ragetti had said, were ingredients for spells that Barbossa had planned to use on other occasions.

The second phase was to see what kind of spells there were and determine if she could use any of them to assist her plan.

If not, she would just keep on with her original idea which was to simply have the two pirates turn on Barbossa, which would no doubt keep him busy long enough so that Elizabeth could make her escape back to Jack's ship.

And, she hoped, their helping her would also keep Jack safe form either Barbossa's gun, or his sword.

Before she could begin to set her plan into motion, she heard someone on the deck shout.

"'Ey look! It's the second Pearl!"

Elizabeth's heart soared. Jack had found her! In her joy, she ran onto the deck. When she got there, she didn't see anything. There was no ship, not even in the distance.

But hadn't he said he'd seen it?

"Where is it? Where is the Pearl 2?" Elizabeth demanded of Pintel, who happened to be standing near her.

He looked sad and regretful. "She's there." He pointed to downward towards the water.

Elizabeth ran to the end of the ship and looked down to where Pintel had been pointing. There, lying just within view beneath the water was the Pearl 2.

Oh, no! Jack!

As the sun hit the water, it fully illuminated the wreckage that had been her and Jack's ship. It was more ghastly than Elizabeth could have imagined. The ship had been torn into pieces, all scattered along the bottom.

The black sails were the one distinguishing characteristic that told Elizabeth that is was indeed the Pearl.

Tears stung her eyes. What if Jack was down there? What if he'd gone down with the Pearl? What if he was…

Pain hit her heart like a swift punch. She couldn't lose him…not again.

That's when she noticed that the longboat, the one she'd polished up one day on a particularly long voyage, was missing. A burst of hope came into her heart.

Did this mean that he might have survived?

Suddenly, she heard a voice in her mind say to her,

"You're forgetting one very important thing, love. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow…"

A smile, one she only reserved for when she thought of the man she loved, spread across her face.

Later that same day, Barbossa sailed to an island that Elizabeth couldn't remember the name of. Everyone enthusiastically left the ship, grinning and chuckling to themselves as they went. Apparently, according to Pintel and Ragetti, this was where some of the finest rum in the world was made.

So, basically it was a drunken pirate's heaven. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and shuddered. Even though she'd been sailing for a year now, she still didn't like how they behaved after an evening of drinking.

She had been locked in her cabin by Barbossa so she couldn't escape while they were "plundering" as he called it. However, he had underestimated her abilities. Elizabeth had learned how to pick a lock and was out of her cabin in to time flat after they departed.

This was her chance to look for the "spell room" and set her plan into motion.

As she went, she was more and more amazed. This really was the Pearl she'd seen sinking to the bottom of the ocean that faithful day.

She went over the rooms in the ship she knew already first. They were exactly as she'd remembered them. It was as if the ship itself was frozen in time, unchanging.

Elizabeth crinkled her nose when she saw that dress she'd worn while she'd been trapped here the first time with Barbossa. It was draped over the same chair she'd sat in. This caused her to wonder if he did that simply to remember that day and snicker or if that had simply been a convenient spot. Either way, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Also, she hoped that memory would fade away one day, even though she knew it wouldn't. Pirate adventures involving curses and being undead stuck with you, always.

As did ones involving chests, hearts, and death…

Elizabeth shook those thoughts from her mind and continued her search. It was when she looked in the left corner of the dining cabin that she noticed that a section of the ship's wood looked newer than the rest.

An average pirate wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but she could since she'd helped the crew repair their ship after having an encounter with a reef.

The newer wood looked to be about the size of a doorway. Convenient for going in and out, Elizabeth assumed.

Carefully, she prodded the wood with her fingers. The wood slowly drew inward, revealing a medium sized room filled to the brim with all sorts of barrels, crates, and oddly shaped bottles.

Some were clearly labelled as being certain kinds of spells and others were not, their contents a mystery.

Elizabeth went through the items in the room to see if any would help her out. She smiled when she noticed a bottle labelled "sleeping tonic" sitting on the floor. She picked it up and turned the bottle around the back where there was another label, explaining how to use it.

One drop in a drink and the person shall sleep for 24 hours, no peep.

Rhymes, Elizabeth observed. It was a nice touch.

Now all she had to do was plan when to give it to Barbossa and the crew. How was far too easy. She would simply spike all the rum aboard with it. That way, she could make sure everyone drank some of the tonic.

Elizabeth slipped the bottle into her jacket pocket and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Phase one and two of her plan were now complete. Swiftly, she retreated from the dining room and back into her cabin where she relocked the door.

Right after she did so, the crew and its Captain returned. She knew because her door was unlocked and Barbossa was now sneering at her.

"How are ya, Mrs. Sparrow?"

"Fine, thank you." She said, fixing him with a glare.

"We be sailin' to find Jack now." He announced an evil gleam in his eye. "It be time for killin'" And with that, he slammed her door shut and relocked it.

In that moment, Elizabeth knew she only had so many days before they would find him. After all, Jack was looking for them too, which meant they were likely to meet sooner rather than later.

The Mist…

Jack stared out of his telescope and frowned. There was still no sign of Barbossa's ship. Though he had broken the spell, or at least he hoped he had, finding it still seemed to prove difficult.

Annoyed, he huffed and took a swig of the rum bottle in his other hand. The liquid created that warm sensation in his stomach that he enjoyed. Well, usually enjoyed. Right now, it did little to comfort him.

Just then, something in the horizon caught Jack's eye. Could it be a ship? It was still too far away to tell with the naked eye, so he again used his telescope to look.

Even with it, the shape was difficult to make out. But, with his long years of experience, Jack knew in his gut it was indeed a ship.

He just hoped it was Barbossa's.

"Ye see the ship Capt'n?" Gibbs asked, coming up beside him.

"Yes, Mr. Gibbs. Let's just make sure it's the one we want."

Mr. Gibbs nodded and watched with Jack as the ship slowly but surely got closer.

Eventually, one was able to see the outline of a ship Jack knew like the back of his hand. It was indeed the original Black Pearl.

Jack then shouted orders to make haste towards the ship so they could save his wife. This was it, he thought, he was going to get her back from that rat of a man.