A/n: Yay, new chapter. :D This one has some more background in it, so sorry for the boring parts, lol. But it has some action near the end too, so yay. Enjoy and review me and make my day ten times better.

Chapter 12

The plan was explained in great detail and Will thought it was a mostly good one. He was confused about the logic behind the plan in some areas and of course, there were many areas where things could go wrong and most likely would. But he trusted Westley and Westley trusted Inigo with his life, so Will in turn trusted Inigo. Somehow, something along the way would work.

Inigo bid them farewell once all angles and scenarios of the plan had been exhausted. He climbed onto a dark horse and galloped away in the direction of the castle. Westley let them rest a little longer before they began again on foot.

"So Will," Buttercup said. "You've heard our story. What about yours?"

Will shook his head. "Honestly, it's nothing."

"Oh, come now, Will! Let's hear it." Westley encouraged.

"Alright then." Will said and began his own tale.

"I'd been in love with Elisabeth nearly since the moment I met her. She was a Governor's daughter and I was a blacksmith, though, so there was not much chance of her father agreeing to us getting together. Whenever I would see her, however, she seemed to silently return the feelings I had for her and it gave me great hope.

"The day Commodore Norrington became Commodore was the same day that a dangerous pirate was running around Port Royal after almost kidnapping and harming Elisabeth."

"Oh, how awful!" Buttercup sympathized.

"It was. I met up with the pirate in my shop and after a rather long duel with him, Norrington's men arrived to take him to jail." Will sighed. "That night, there was a terrible pirate raid on Port Royal. Many were killed and injured. The worst of it was just before a pirate knocked me out, I could see them taking Elisabeth captive."

Buttercup gasped a little. "And you couldn't help her because you were out cold?"

Will nodded grimly. "Yes. I didn't wake until morning. I found out that the ship was the Black Pearl and I immediately begged Norrington for help, which he refused to give. Knowing it may have already been too late to help her, but not willing to take the chance, I went to the jail and found the pirate I'd dueled with the day for. His name was Jack Sparrow and I convinced him to help me find the Black Pearl. We outwitted Norrington and managed to steal one of his ships."

Will smiled at the memory before continuing. "We sailed into Tortuga and picked up a crew to help us follow the Black Pearl. Around that time I learned that Jack was only helping me because I was worth something to him. I was what he called the 'leverage' in convincing the captain of the Black Pearl to give up his ship to Jack. Or, give it back to Jack, I should say."

"The Black Pearl was Jack's ship?" Buttercup questioned.

Will nodded. "I found that out later. We finally reached the Isla de Mureta, an island that supposedly cannot be found except by those who already know where it is. Here we managed to catch up with the Pearl. Since Jack was about to betray me, I knocked him out and quietly rescued Elisabeth without the pirates about to kill her noticing."

Westley snorted. "And how'd you manage that?"

Will shrugged. "Barbossa – the captain – had cut Elisabeth's hand to spill her blood on the last piece of Aztec gold, a gold medallion. When her blood didn't lift their curse as mine was meant to do, he tossed her to the side. The pirates argued and I stole away with Elisabeth, leaving Jack on the island."

"Aztec gold, curse… I don't get it." Buttercup said and shook her head confusedly.

"Many people don't. The legend was that Cortez himself delivered a chest of gold to the Isla de Mureta. With it, came a curse, that anyone who removed but a single piece would be cursed. Barbossa's crew found the gold, dismissed the legend as a mere ghost story and spent and traded away all of it. It wasn't until afterwards that they realized there really was a curse. They couldn't eat, they hardly slept, they couldn't drink and they couldn't die."

Buttercup shivered.

"My father took a piece and sent it to me after Barbossa betrayed Jack, who had been captain at the time. My father wanted to the crew to stay cursed for the mutiny they'd committed. When I was shipwrecked some time later, it was Elisabeth's father's ship that found me – the only survivor – and she then took the gold because she was afraid I was a pirate."

"So why did they need Elisabeth's blood?" Westley inquired.

"When the pirates took her, in a panic she'd told them her name was Elisabeth Turner instead of Elisabeth Swann. The pirates assumed she was the only child of my father. The pirates had recovered every piece of the cursed gold except the one my father had sent to me, the one Elisabeth had in her possession. The pirates got very lucky, to tell the truth.

"Anyways, to lift the curse, they needed all the pieces of the gold and they needed to 'repay the blood'. So, if they spilt the blood of Turner on the last piece of gold, the curse would no longer be. Her blood didn't work because she wasn't Turner."

Buttercup nodded in understanding.

"After that, we tried to flee with the crew from Tortuga, but the Pearl caught up with us and overtook us. Managing to live even though they completely obliterated the ship we'd been on, I revealed myself to Barbossa as the son of Turner and the blood he needed. I surrendered myself to him on the condition they didn't harm the crew and they let Elisabeth go free.

"Well, Barbossa was careful about how I worded the conditions, and Elisabeth went free. However she was set free on a deserted island with Jack, who no longer had any 'leverage' to regain his ship now that Barbossa had me. Barbossa assumed Jack and Elisabeth would die, with no chance of rescue, and the Pearl headed back to the Isla de Mureta with myself and the Tortuga crew being held prisoner."

"Oh, how awful." Buttercup shook her head. "Being shut up in Humperdink's castle was bad enough but I can't imagine being held captive by cursed, killer pirates!"

Will half-smiled. "It was no picnic. And just as I truly thought I was about to die, having my neck slit open over the cursed gold, who walks into the cave but Jack. He managed to get off the island and claimed that Elisabeth was safe and ready to marry Norrington. That was a shock, but I didn't exactly have time to dwell on it.

"Jack explained that Norrington and his men were waiting just outside, ready to gather and destroy the pirates. Barbossa sent almost his entire crew out to meet and obliterate Norrington's crew while two or three pirates, himself, myself and Jack all stayed behind. Jack wascollecting his pay (in gold hoarded from other raids and stashed in the cave)from a deal he made wtih Barbossa beforethe crewleft to defeat Norrington,in gold hoarded from other raids and stashed in the cave. AndI wasbeing held until it was time for them to kill me.

"Then Jack tossed me a sword and we began dueling in the cave with the remaining pirates. Elisabeth showed up to lend me a hand."

"Wait – whose side was Jack on?" Buttercup interrupted.

Will laughed. "That's exactly what Elisabeth had asked. In the end, he was on our side. He'd just been trying to regain his ship and after I lifted the curse by cutting my hand, Jack shot Barbossa, and Norrington's men took all the newly 'uncursed' pirates captive. We all returned to Port Royal."

"And lived happily ever after, right?" Buttercup teased.

"Not quite."

"There's more?" Westley said.

"Yes. After all, Elisabeth was engaged to Norrington who despised pirates. By law, pirates in Port Royal were to be hung. Finally knowing exactly where I belonged, I quickly confessed my love to Elisabeth and freed Jack from the noose."

Westley laughed. "Heck of a way to do it, don't you think?"

Will grinned. "When Jack and I got caught in a corner, Elisabeth broke her engagement from Norrington and convinced him and her father to let Jack go. Jack returned to the Black Pearl with the crew from Tortuga and Elisabeth returnedmy love."

Buttercup sighed.

"So it was happily ever after until Saradon came along." Westley correctly guessed.

"Yes." Will said then added with a grin to Buttercup, "Is everything clear to you now?"

She laughed. "Clear as mud."

Hours later, after several rests and stops for food and drink, the trio finally crested a final hill and could see the city they were seeking in the near distance. Buttercup let out a relieved and tired sigh, and Will knew exactly how she felt. Though at seeing the gray form of the king's castle, Will felt a surge of energy pump through him.

Hold on Elisabeth. He thought. I'm almost there.

Westley seemed to guess what Will was thinking and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Inigo should be there by now. I wouldn't worry."

Will smiled smally. "Thanks."

The three were quiet for a few moment's and then Westley said, "Let's take a quick break. After that we can make a final push for town and rest until nightfall."

Will and Buttercup both nodded in agreement.

The three sat comfortably down under the shade of large, leafy tree and were glad to be out of the sun's glaring rays for a little bit. A cool breeze floated by, and it seemed only noticeable as they sat in the shade and non-existent when they were back in the sun.

A few more moments went by with none of them saying anything before Buttercup asked quietly, "You really think Inigo's there by now?"

Westley cracked a lop-sided grin. "Oh, I would count on it."

Elisabeth ate like she hadn't eaten in days – well, actually, she hadn't. Her hair was tied back so it didn't drag on her plate, so her face was so close to her food that seemed hardly possible.

"Goodness mistress!" the maid commented. "You're going to hurt yourself! I'm glad your appetite has returned, but mind you slow down!"

Elisabeth paid the maid no attention and continued to shovel her food in at top speed. It tasted so good and warm and she immediately regretted not eating before. Her stomach was filling fast and it felt very good indeed to have a full stomach again.

The maid shook her head disapprovingly and then left Elisabeth's room. Elisabeth took advantage of the maid's disappearance to eat even more piggishly – what did she care? No one was watching.

Just then, outside her door, she heard her maid holler, "GOODNESS ME!"

This was followed by the sound of one of the guards yelling, "Stop right there!" And this was followed by the sound of clanking swords, after which came two very loud thuds.

Elisabeth stood, her mouth full to capacity with food, crumbs across her chest, holding a half eaten bun in one hand and half a glass of water in the other. What was going on? It's Will! Her heart screamed in joy.

At that moment, the door burst open and for a split second, Elisabeth's heart soared – it was Will! As soon as the man turned to face her, however, she knew immediately it was not Will. Did not even look very close to Will in appearance, in fact. True the man had dark hair and dark eyes, but he was built physically different then Will, had a darker, thicker moustache and skin a tad paler than Will's.

"Elisabeth, I presume?" the man said, and there was a hint of a Spanish accent to his speech.

She nodded, staring wide-eyed at the man, completely unaware of how she looked.

The man suppressed a smile. "I am Inigo Montoya. Pleased to meet you." He held out his non-sword hand for her to shake.

She went to shake his hand and found a half-eaten bun in her hand. She tried to apologize in embarrassment and only became tenfold more embarrassed as she realized she'd started the apology with her mouth grossly full of food. She set the glass of water and bun down immediately, and chewed hurriedly. She swallowed, her cheeks flaming hot with embarrassment.

"Pleased to meet you too." She mumbled and gently shook Inigo's hand.

"I believe you received a special symbol so you can recognize friend from foe?" Inigo said, ignoring her embarrassing moment.

Elisabeth raised an eyebrow, for a moment unsure of what he was talking about. Then she remembered the piece of burlap with the white flower on it and hastily retrieved it from its hiding place. "This? Is that was this is for?"

Inigo chuckled and pulled a replica of her symbol from his pocket. "I was sent here by Westley, who was recruited by his wife Buttercup, who was written to by her uncle Thomas Fullerbutton, who met Will and learned of your situation and agreed to help."

Elisabeth shook her head, rather confused as to why Inigo knew Will and so on. "I'm sorry… how – "

"No time. We must be off." Inigo said, suddenly very much in a hurry, realizing that he had stayed longer than he should've. "We've lingered too long."

He grabbed Elisabeth's hand and took off running out the door and down the spiraling stairs of the tower.

"Do you know where you're going?" Elisabeth asked, struggling to keep up with Inigo's flying feet.

"Not really, no." Inigo admitted.

"Oh, swell." Elisabeth rolled her eyes.

They jumped over two fallen guards and the maid who'd fainted in the stairwell before reaching the bottom. Inigo stopped abruptly before the exit and cautiously peeked into the adjoining room. There was only one guard, his back to them. Inigo should have smiled at such little opposition, but instead it greatly worried him. He furrowed his brow and scanned the area again to make he'd missed none.

When he entered the castle, practically invisible posing as a daily merchant come to sell goods in the castle courtyard, and when he'd slipped past lazy eyed guards to make it to the tower stairwell, he'd counted at least six or seven guards in this particular room.

The fact that they were all suddenly gone and the lazy eyed guard no longer appeared lazy spelt 'trouble' worse than anything.

"What is – " Elisabeth started.

"Ssh!" Inigo silenced her. Ten to twelve guards were entering the room.

Elisabeth waited a moment before whispering. "What is it?"

Inigo didn't answer. He was stuck. He suddenly couldn't remember what to do next and couldn't seem to figure out how to improvise. He tried to think of every angle, try to recall Westley words for if such an occasion occurred… the more time he took to think, the more time he wasted and the higher the chance of danger became.

Elisabeth sighed irritatedly. "Aren't you going to do something?"

"I'm thinking!" Inigo hissed. He kept himself and Elisabeth in the shadow of the stairwell, yet able to see almost the entire room.

Elisabeth rolled her eyes. "Men." She mumbled, really meaning, "It's so annoying when the guy rescuing you has no back-up plan should his original plan somehow fail." She took a moment to study the increasingly problematic situation and an idea struck her.

The way the stair well was designed, when one went in the doorway you had the obvious choice of going up the stairs that led to the tower, which twisted out of sight almost immediately. One also had the extremely less obvious and rarely chosen choice of moving to the left upon entering the stairway and standing just behind the grounding center pillar that guided the stairs. The pillar completely obscured anything from view. The reason was said to be that a servant used to wait there all night and guide anyone who wished to go to the tower. Since servants no longer were required to do such a pointless task, the tiny area where the servant used to stay was no longer used for anything other than to collect dust.

Elisabeth grabbed the candlestick from the wall behind her head and without a second thought, imitated the maid's voice. "Help me!" she hollered and dropped the candlestick with a loud clang. "Oh help!"

Inigo turned white with anger and fear. "What are you do – "

Elisabeth covered his mouth and ducked him and her into the dark hole to the left of the doorway. Her shouts had the desired affect and more than half he guards pounded past to help the maid. The other half remained in the room, looking quite unsure.

Again, without a second thought, Elisabeth jumped up and ran into the room, Inigo's eyes practically popping out of his head. What was she doing? Wisely, however, he remained where he was.

"The maid!" Elisaebth gulped as though she'd bolted down the tower stairs to the startled guards. "Something's happened to her! And the others – the other guards – " she pretended to be out of breath. "Something to them too! I think there's an intruder in the tower!"

A few of the guards took off running to the stairwell, the others stayed behind looking confused.

"I think someone is hiding in my room!" Elisabeth said, doing her best imitation of fear and panic. "I cannot go up there until you find them!" she pleaded with the guards.

The lead guard nodded grimly. "Understood, princess." He gestured to his fellow guards and they too took off into the stairwell.

Elisabeth smirked and placed her hands on her hips.

The moment the guards were around the corner and stomping in a hurry up the stairs, Inigo burst from his hiding place. Elisabeth expected a compliment and was about to fish for one when Inigo grabbed her hand and yanked her along as he took off running again.

"Are you crazy?" he snapped.

"Hey, I just got us out of there!" Elisabeth retorted. "Which was tenfold what you were doing!"

Inigo shook his head, refusing to admit she was right.

They dashed through the castle and again Inigo was disturbed by the lack of guards in most of the rooms. He kept to the edges of the castle, dragging a stumbling Elisabeth behind. Shortly they could see the main door at the end of a long, wide hallway. Inigo refused to think they'd managed this until they were on his horse riding to meet Westley.

And rightly so.

"Inigo – " Elisabeth started, her speech jarred by her running. "I – think – we're – in – trouble!"

"Not yet…" Inigo growled. He could hear guards hollering at him to stop and he saw some running out of other halls to cut him off at the door. He poured on more speed, refusing to give in...

Ten or more guards closed off the escape and began cranking the door shut. Inigo skidded to a halt, Elisabeth fighting to keep her balance at the abrupt stop and go running that Inigo seemed to enjoy. Inigo glanced around for another escape and saw they were now surrounded by all the guards that had been absent moments ago.

"I think we're in trouble." He said and Elisabeth rolled her eyes despite the situation.

"Indeed." She snapped.

A/n: K, the only thing with this chapter: I know Elisabeth wouldn't actually use the word "swell", but it was funny and seemed to randomly fit, so ya. Lol. Dont' bash me too hard. ;) Review me, because honestly, a review can make me smile for like ten minutes straight. Review me and make my day amuch better one.

And, the usual: Check my profile for the most recent updates. (I updated alot over the month of January and the first week of February, so if you think you missed an update, just go check).