Dislclaimer: I don't own POTC. Title is a short story by none other than Edgar Allan Poe.

Chapter 50: The Power of Words

Camille was trying to pull herself up, but there was so much going on that she could barely focus on her task. She could see Jack running around, his sword drawn, fighting a woman with brown hair that she didn't recognize.

Just above her, she could tell that Long John had finally gotten his hands on the Devil's Dowry. He was laughing, and she knew quite well by now that his head was thrown back. Then she looked up. The cavern was all of a sudden filled with red light. She hoisted herself up a little bit so that she could see over the edge. The Dowry was glowing even more. Long John had his hand on it, laughing madly. "At last," he said, his chest heaving with the unnecessary hysterics of a crazed person. "Immortality!" As he pressed his hand to the Dowry, he began glowing as well.

"Camille!"

Camille looked down the staircase, where a familiar woman was calling her name. She then realized what Gretchen had been able to figure out a little while ago. "Yes, Mother!" she called.

"He's vulnerable!" Morgan yelled, still heading up the staircase. "You have to kill him now, while he is focusing on the Dowry!"

"Mother, I can't! It's a bit of a long story, but I can't kill him!"
"Just do it, Camille! Trust me!"

"Never trust a pirate," Camille muttered, pulling her cutlass out of her clothes. The glowing was so bright, she could barely even see Long John there. It was like he was almost the same as the ruby. So she took her cutlass, and stuck it into the side of the ruby.

When she did this, the glowing stopped. Long John uttered an inhuman cry, and his outer appearance literally shattered. There was nothing left now.

"Will!" Camille cried, looking around. To her relief, the pain subsided from her arm. The Mark felt like it was gone for good. But that didn't solve the problem of Will.

Morgan was just making it to the top of the staircase. "Camille!" she exclaimed, embracing her daughter and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Camille, my child!"

"Mother!" Camille said, becoming choked up in her mother's arms. "I've missed you so much."

"Oh, Camille," Morgan said sweetly, pulling away. "Ah, you look just as lovely as I remember," she said, holding Camille's chin.

The cavern began shaking. The large staircase they had all climbed was beginning to look shakier and shakier by the minute. They both got their bearings for a moment, and began down the stairs as fast as they possibly could. None of the Thatchers were anywhere in sight, but Ana Maria, Jack, and Wynona were making their way through the mazes of treasure that were by now shifting tremendously in the cavern.

The stairs were quickly breaking, but the two of them managed to make their way to the bottom. Boulders and stalactites were falling everywhere, and the gold was becoming harder and harder to see. Camille did her best running through the collapsing place, while keeping Morgan close within her sight. At the same time, she was looking for any opening in the cavern that she'd missed.

Morgan pulled her. "Come on, Camille! We've got to get out of here, they'll be time to talk later!"

"Camille!"

Camille stopped. That was Will's voice, and it sounded like it was somewhere nearby. "William! Mother, I have to go back for him!"

"He's gone Camille, just accept it!" Ana Maria yelled, ahead of them.

"No!" she cried, falling back. Where could he possibly be? This place was falling apart, and you couldn't even tell that had been any treasure in there at one time. Then she saw a small opening towards the top. She would have to climb a bit to get in there.

She started towards it, and put her foot on the first rock to climb up. Then she felt a hand around her wrist. It was Jack holding her tightly. "What do you think you are doing? We've got to leave this place now."

"Let me go, Jack," she said, trying to shake him off. But he was too strong.

"Ana Maria's right, he fell behind. Silver murdered him, you're not going to find anything up there except your own fate!" he shouted over the falling rocks.

"Then leave without me!"

"No!"

"Jack Sparrow, let me go!" she said, finally prying free from his grip. She climbed up the side of the cavern so fast that he couldn't even catch her small feet. "William!" she cried. "Will, where are you?"

A voice came from inside. "Camille, run! It's too late for me, get to The Pearl!"

"Oh, like hell I will," she said, climbing in. It looked like another cavern, half the size of the one they'd just been in. There was Will, bent over, struggling to free himself from being caught between two boulders. He looked up at her.

"It's caught underneath, I can't loosen myself from it!" he told her.

She used all her strength to try and lift move one of the rocks, but she couldn't. She tried to help Will pull himself free, but that didn't work either. The place was collapsing, and she feared that the small opening to this cavern would be blocked soon. "I can't move it!"

"That's all right, go! If you stay here any longer you'll be crushed!" Will warned her.

"He's right. When are you going to learn not to be so damned stubborn?"

They both looked up. "Jack!" she exulted. He immediately stooped to help her, and in a minute or two they were all able to get Will free. There was no time to ask any questions, they had to move.

Camille had absolutely no idea where they were, so she followed the others. They finally came to a cove where The Pearl was, still in one piece. But it wasn't over when they boarded it. The cove was completely dark, and nobody could tell where they were headed, or even if they were even moving at all.

Jack, of course, had the helm. Ana Maria and Gretchen hung off the sides, straining to listen for any noise that might be a clue to their position. Morgan stood at the stern of the boat, clinging onto her daughter. They were all afraid now, afraid that some part of Long John Silver was still there, keeping them imprisoned beneath the seas. And their fears, for the most part, were correct.