Aquatic Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 18: The Curse; Able-Bodied Crew?

That Same Night

The Black Pearl

The mighty vessel that was the Black Pearl had been traversing the seas for a great time, gliding through the vast dark ocean. The only source of light on that night was the full moon; its very presence played an eerie role in these events, from Port Royal and now. The moon showed a few shadows of the pirate crew that invaded Port Royal, but none could be seen clearly, as the night sky was clearly lit up and the oceans roared with life. As the vessel was only lit to its silhouette, the lights in the Captain's cabin quarters were lit on the spot.

Within the Captain's Cabin, looking through the window and back at the sea that was being left behind was Ariel. She sat near the railing of the massive patio-like door window, peering outside as she looked past the copter landing port. She looked out towards the sea, hoping that in some way, she could see Eric coming to the rescue. But then she remembered that she still had the bracelet, so it would be impossible for him to come and rescue her. It was then that she noticed that the clouds were covering the moon, making the ocean dark and gloomy once more. Ariel looked away in fear and hopelessness. She covered her face with her hands as she softly cried, "Please, Eric…help me…"

It was just then, something stirred in her purse, nearly surprising her as she looked at it. Then out of curiosity, she opened the bag, and was slightly startled at what…or who it was. It was none other than Sebastian as his face was smudged with lipstick, from trying to keep from getting noticed. Ariel smiled at this as she took the crab out with her hand, "Sebastian! I'm so glad you're here."

Sebastian rubbed off the lipstick, and coughed up a little lint as he hastily ordered, "Ariel, why are you still here?", he then pointed to the window, "What are you waiting for? You can just simply jump outta here and inta de ocean."

Ariel looked a little shocked in surprise as she asked, "I can't do that, Sebastian. What if somebody saw…"

"Den let them see.", Sebastian blurted out, nearly panicking as he pointed out, "If dat boy were any kind o' hero, he'd have rescued you back den.", it was true when he saw the pitiful attempt that Eric had tried to rescue him in.

but Ariel stated, "You might not have enough faith in Eric, but I do, Sebastian.", she looked out the window, with a hopeful gaze as she stated, "I know he will.", Sebastian slumped in defeat, and just when he was about to say something else, the doors swung open. Desperate to hide him, Ariel threw him over on the table as he scurried behind something to hide behind.

Ariel stood up, trying to look her best like nothing was going on, but then she saw the pirates, Pintel and Ragetti walk in. in his arm, Ragetti was holding a beautiful pink long-sleeved and puffy shoulder gown, something that looked like it belonged in the Victorian era. However, as the two came in, they heard the girl speaking to someone, and Pintel orderly interrogated the girl, "Who were you talkin to in here?"

Ariel innocently smiled as she shrugged, "N-Nobody." She then cleared her throat as she asked, "Why are you here? And what's with the dress?"

Pintel then calmly stated as he pointed to the dress, from which Ragetti presented to her, "You'll be dining with the captain this evening; he has something of great importance to tell you. And he requests you wear this."

Feeling a little disgusted, and not wanting to talk to Barbossa, nor have anything to do with him, Ariel's stubborn headstrong nature came back as she crossed her arms, and held her head high, "Well you can tell Captain Barbossa that I'm disinclined to acquiesce to his request."

The two pirates chuckled at that, but with Ragetti chuckling like a pervert. This caused Ariel to get a little unnerved by this, but then Pintel replied, "He said you'd say that. He also said that if that be the case, then you'll be dining with the crew…", and then he and Ragetti smirked devilishly, "…And you'll be naked." Ariel frowned with disgust, as she grabbed the dress and held it close to her. Pintel growled the same as he sulked, "Fine.", and then he and his crewmate left the room with closing the door behind them.

Ariel looked around to be certain she was alone, and nodded at that confirming it. Then she began to undress as Sebastian covered his eyes, and groaned, "Ariel…wat are you doin, girl?"

Ariel got out of her dress, and was now fitting on the pink one as she stated, "As long as I'm on board this ship, I can't do anything that'll anger these pirates.". and as she fit her sleeves in as she mumbled, "Besides, I really didn't want to take the second option on the company for dinner."

Meanwhile, while Ariel was dressing, little did she know that she was being spied on. On the other side of the wall, a small hole was present; big enough for someone to peep, through, Pintel and Ragetti were keeping an eye on the girl. They had heard her talking to someone, and used the old Spying Hole to see what all the fuss was about. However, Pintel could see that she wasn't talking to no one, say herself. He groaned to himself, "That's just not right."

Ariel froze for a moment as she wondered what that was. She picked up Sebastian as she walked over to where the sound was coming from. However, Ragetti had moved into looking….unfortunately he was spying on her with his wooden eye. Ariel then spotted a hole not too far and looked through, but then saw movement and recognized the wooden eye from before.

Ragetti muttered in frustration, "I can't see nothin'. I can't see nothin'!"

Pintel just groaned at this as he muttered to himself, "You're an idiot."

Sebastian, with the help of Ariel lifting him up to it, looked through the hole. And then muttered in disgust, "Peep at da Princess, will you?", and then with his claw, poked at Ragetti's eye, causing it to fall out.

Ragetti saw this as he shouted in a panic, "Me eye!" He got on his knees as he saw it was rolling away. He shouted frantically, trying to get it, "Don't let it get away!" but then just when it was out of reach, someone stepped on it. Ragetti and Pintel stopped to see who it was, only to gulp in fear as it was Bo'sun.

Bo'sun then menacingly growled as a wicked smile spread across his face, "If ya'd like…I'd be happy to nail it into place."

Ragetti gulped as he nervously smiled, trying to take the eye back, "Um…no thanks." And just when he was about to get it, Bo'sun kicked it away, in the corner, having Ragetti get it back. As the two were getting things back in order, a couple men of the crew walked right into the Captain's cabin, carrying trays of well-fit meals fit for kings and queens alike. Ariel stood by as they did so, but kept Sebastian hidden behind her back as he hid himself on the bow behind her dress. They set the table up, making it as nice and clean as ever in her presence, even as to go to such lengths as lighting a few candles to make it more elegant.

And then Barbossa entered the room as the men finished up. his pet monkey was on his shoulder as he stopped at the table, and then the little critter jumped off as he scurried to a small sitting spot, hanging over the table. Barbossa took a gander at Ariel and let out a half-smile as he commented to her in the dress, "Maid or not…that dress suits you just fine."

Ariel frowned as she walked to her chair, "And what happened to its previous owner?"

Barbossa comically frowned as he shook his head as he walked over to Ariel's chair, "Oh, now none of that durin' at the dinner table." And then politely took it for her as he led her to it, "Please…sit." Ariel looked at him, like he was trying to pull something, but then reluctantly sat down. And he scooted her in, but not before he stated, "Ya know, for a young lady such as yerself…you don't act like an ordinary teenage common girl, Missy."

Ariel nearly paled at that, even Sebastian who was hiding nearby as he scuttled into her lap, as she thought, 'Does he know?', but then shook it off as she calmly asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Barbossa leaned in as he looked her straight in the eye, "You seem more like royalty.", after a while in a staring contest of wills, Barbossa broke it off as he smirked, "Dig in.", and walked over to his chair as he sat down, across of Ariel. Ariel looked at the plate before her and saw it was a drumstick of Pork, a platter salad, and an empty glass. She was a little uncertain about the meat, but then she remembered that hot dog she tried once.

She shrugged, 'It should be the same basic thing.', and then used a fork and knife to cut off a piece. It was then that she heard a scoff laughter coming from Barbossa, and then asked him, "What?"

Barbossa merely smiled as he stated, "There's no need to stand on ceremony, no call to impress anyone." And then curtly raised an eyebrow as he asked, "You must be hungry." Ariel thought about it for only a second, and then dropped the utensils as she grabbed the pork leg like a drumstick and sank her teeth into it. Sebastian, while still in hiding, just shook his head with disgust as Ariel continued on it. Barbossa, on the other hand, watched her with much strange interest. It was almost as if he envied every savored bite she took from her dinner. He took a bottle of something as he poured her a glass and gave it to her, "Try the champagne."

Ariel stopped for a moment, but then stated with a frown, "I'm sixteen. I don't drink…"

"This be just sparklin', me lady.", Barbossa stated finally, stating there was no alcohol in it. Reluctantly, she took it and took a big gulp from it. And then Barbossa did something strange as he held out a luscious green apple. He then smiled gleefully as he whispered, "And the apples. One of those next?"

It was then Ariel stopped for a moment as she looked around. Something was odd with this scene; she was the only one eating at the table, and Barbossa was only watching her do so. It was kind of odd that he didn't even tried to dig in; even the monkey, who was just sitting down on his butt, was looking at her with hungry eyes as she ate. She thought it was odd behavior, strange manners, or…She then dropped her food as she coughed out the food bits in her mouth. She then looked at Barbossa terrified as she hastily stated the obvious, "You poisoned the food?"

Barbossa grinned as he full-heartedly let out a chuckle and put down the apple, "There would be no sense to be killin' ye, Miss Thatch."

Then Ariel stated calmly, innerly glad she wasn't poisoned, "Then let me go home. You have your medallion coin; I'm no further value to you."

Barbossa shook his head as he reached in to his coat. He then pulled out the medallion and held it up for her to see. He then had on a straight face as he asked her, straight out, "You don't know what this is…do ya?"

Ariel thought about it for a moment, and just shrugged, "It's a pirate medallion, right?"

Barbossa chuckled again, but after he was done, he still had on his smile as he asked, "You think a couple of vicious pirates went through all the trouble o' steelin' and ransackin' ships n' ports for near ten years…just for one pirate medallion?", and then held the medallion with his fingers as he let it dangle, "And honestly…ya think this…be a pirate medallion?"

Ariel then had a face of uncertainty about it, and then simply shrugged as she weakly smiled, "Well…I thought so…until you chuckled like that."

Barbossa pointed out as he held the coin out for Ariel to see, "This is Aztec Gold….straight from the city of Gold, El Dorado itself. This be only one of 882 identical pieces the Aztecs delivered in a stone chest to the Spanish conqueror, Cortez, himself. Blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies, but the greed of Cortez was insatiable."

Ariel then understood that part as she stated out loud, "He went back on his deal. And kept slaughtering them for more gold. Right?"

"Aye, he did, Lass.", Barbossa said as he nodded, but continued with his story, "So the heathen goddess, Calypso, placed upon the gold... a terrible curse.", he hten spoke with so much dread in his voice that it nearly caused Ariel's blood to freeze in her veins, "Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone ches will be cursed to become immortal…and shall be punished for eternity. "

It was then that Ariel's fear disappeared and looked at Barbossa like she didn't believe him. She raised an eyebrow as she stated in a sarcastic tone, "I believe in magic, monsters, and even Sea Witches and Voodoo Priestesses. But I hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain Barbossa."

"Aye…", Barbossa said, smiling as he got up and walked towards Ariel's seat as he explained, "That's exactly what I thought when we were first told the tale! Buried on an island of dead what cannot be found, 'cept for those who know where it is." He then leaned in near Ariel's face, but this time his smile had faded as it became a face of more regret than ever, "Find it, we did. There be the chest. Inside be the gold. And we took 'em all! We spent 'em, and traded 'em. And frittered 'em away on drink and food and pleasurable company.", He then walked over to Ariel's right, and then he gave her a look of agony and fear as he went on, "The more we gave 'em away, the more we came to realize. The drink would not satisfy…Food turned to ash in our mouths…And all the pleasurable company in the world could not slake our lust. Some of us even tried to kill ourselve into escapin' out of this nightmare. But when we tried, we realized as well: the blade or bullet didn't end it…blood would turn to dust as it left our bodies and our wounds healed with not leavin' a scar…and even the crushing blakc oblivion left us, unablet to breateh…but unable to die.", he then leaned into Ariel's face as he spoke with much dread in his voice, "We are cursed, immortal men, Miss Thatch.", He then backed away from her as he finished, "Compelled by greed we were, but now…we are consumed by it."

it was just then that the monkey began to screech up a hissy fit something fierce. Barbossa turned his attention towards the little varmint and walked to him, giving him the medallion, calming him down. While he wasn't looking, Ariel quickly grabbed a knife from the table, and hid it in her sleeve. Sebastian asked, very quietly, "Ariel, wat are you doin'?"

She placed a finger on her mouth, indicating for him to keep quiet, and she whispered, "We're getting out of here, Sebastian. By any means necessary." She wasn't too fond on the idea of taking someone's life to escape, but right now there was no other way. But then her attention was turned back to Barbossa as he whispered in a loud way.

"There is one way we can end our curse.", and then turned around, with the monkey on his shoulder. He walked towards Ariel as he explained the means to end Cortez's curse, "All the scattered pieces of the Aztec gold must be restored, and the blood repaid.", and as he was only five feet away from Ariel, he set the monkey down as it scurried away, "Thanks to ye, we have the final piece."

Then a cold feeling swept over Ariel as she asked, slightly afraid to hear the answer, "...And the... blood to be repaid?"

And then Barbossa grinned evilly at the girl as he answered, "That's why there's no sense to be killin' ya….yet." It was then that Ariel's face was contorted in a mix of shock and fear at this. And then Barbossa held out a green apple, and asked once more, "Apple?"

At that split second, Ariel's fear disapperaed as her courage overrided it. She slapped the apple out of Barbossa's hand, nad hten pulled the knife out. She held it threateningly at Barbossa; catching him slightly offguard, she made a mad dash for the door, but Barbossa chased after her. she tried to get away from him, but he kept blocking her path. And then finally when she narrowly got past him, he grabbed her by the wrist. She then shouted in a state of panic, "NO!", and then in the confusion, she stabbed the knife right into Barbossa's neck.

She gasped at this, now that she was fully aware of her own actions now. She backed away slowly towards the door, as she looked at the still standing Barbossa, waiting for him to gargle with blood in his mouth and fall to the ground dead. But much to her surprise and horrified realization, he didn't do either one of those things. Instead, Barbossa reached for the knife like it was nothing, and then pulled it out. He then held the knife up as he looked at it, with no surprise at all, but to Ariel's even greater surprise, the wound on his neck didn't even bleed. It quickly healed up in a matter of seconds, but the blood that stained on the knife's blade, suddenly turned to dust as it fell to the floor, leaving the knife clean as a whistel.

Then Barbossa turned his attention towards the girl as he asked, with no surprise in his voice, "I'm curious. After killin' me, what is it your plannin' to do to escape this ship?"

Ariel's fear then returned to her as she backed away, and then made a mad dash for the door. When she opened it, and ran out on to the deck, she was greeted with another horrifying surprise. The entire pirate crew, the ones that worked alongside Barbossa, had transformed into undead skeletal versions of themselves. All that they were were nothing but skeletons, with their eyeballs still in their sockets, their hair, facial or head, was still there, along with scraps and beef jerky tidbits of their flesh, including their ears, were still clinging on to the skeletal bodies. Their clothing were still on there, but looked like they had beel decayed or torn slightly, giving them the appeareance of being truly undead.

As she realized what Barbossa had told her was true, two of the crewmates, Twigg and Koehler, pushed her into the crowd. All she could do was screaming in fright as she saw the entire crew had been transformed into the living undead. But then as she finally broke through the crowd, she fell down into one of the cargo doors, and landed on a silk trampoline of sorts. It was being held up by more of the crewman as they catapulted her in the air a few times, casing her to scream out loud. It was from the last throw, that Ariel fell down in an angle, and then was caught by the skeletal undead pirate, that resembled Grappler.

As soon as Ariel was in his arms, she screamed out loud as she pushed away from him. She ran up towards the stairwell and up to the Steering room, with Grappler right behind her. She fled near the steering wheel as Grappler had her cornered, but then she turned the wheel as he was close enough, and then the wheel slammed into him a couple of times. Afterwards, his neck snapped backwards, making him look like a PEZ dispenser. He snapped his head back into place, and snarled at Ariel, who fled the scene.

And then out of desperation, she hid under the stairway, gasping for breath as she looked around. She tried to tell herself that this was all a bad dream. But when she looked around, it was to no avail, even when Sebastian whimpered, "Jumpin' Jellyfish! Dese undead pirates are all over da ship!", then Sebastian took a deep breath and semi-calmed down, "Okay, as long as we stay under 'ere, we're safe…", unfortunately, that didn't prove right as the monkey had popped up, screeching at the two. And from the looks of things, it too was cursed as it was undead looking now. Ariel and Sebastian both screamed as they ran out of there and towards the Captain's quarters, with Sebastian shouting, "I WAS WRONG! I WAS HORRIBLY WRONG!"

Ariel ran towards the door, only to run into Barbossa, who grabbed her and turned her around. He snarled as he exclaimed, "Look!", Ariel could only do that as the crew closed in all around them, as Barbossa continued, "The moonlight shows us for what we really are. We are not among the living, and so we cannot die. But neither are we dead.", he then spun her around so they were both face-to-face as he continued, "For too long I've been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starving to death and haven't died.", and then he walked forward, causing her to walk backwards away from him in fear as he continued, "I feel nothin'. Not the wind in my face, nor the spray of the sea.", he then stuck his hand out towards Ariel, as it touched the moonlight, exposing his cursed skeleton hand, "…nor the warmth of a woman's flesh."

And then he stepped out into the full moonlight, exposing his full skeleton cursed form as he finished with his barely lipped mouth, "You best start believing in ghost stories Miss Thatch…You're in one."

And then he took one of the bottles of rum that they had, pulled the cork off, and drank it, despite the fact that the fluid came out of his exposed ribcage. This was all Ariel could take as she looked in fright of all this, and Sebastian nearly fainted as he turned white. She ran back into the Captain's cabin, as Barbossa threw the bottle at the door, and closed it. He cackled evilly and was joined by his crew. He then stopped as he shouted to them, "What're you laughin' at? Back ta work!" And the crew did so as they returned back to their duty.

Meanwhile back in the cabin, Ariel was curled up in the corner, holding her legs to her chest. She had never been this terrified in her life, and prayed that this was all a nightmare. She then buried her face in her knees as she whimpered, "Eric…please hurry…"

The Next Morning

Tortuga Port

The very next morning, Jack Sparrow was accompanied by Gibbs who was heading towards the port. However, Jack stopped as he noticed that his two apprentice pirates weren't following behind. He looked behind him near the corner and saw the otter as he asked, "Hey, furball, where's the boys?"

Dax frowned as he stated, "The name's Dax. Say it with me: Da…ax." And then he pointed behind him, showing the boys' shadows, "And the boys are over there. Apparently, they're not too keen on the idea of being seen like that in public.", in truth, after last night, Jack had come up with the idea that if the duo were gonna be on a pirate's ship and fight with them, then they'd have to dress like them in order to avoid suspicion.

Jack sighed as he just stated, "Will you all stop actin' like a bunch of babies, already?", he then whistled for them to come out, "Oy, get out here now!"

"Forget it, Jack!", Eric shouted back, "We look like characters from an RPG game."

Jack sighed at this as he stated, "Ask yourselves this question, eh? Do you honestly think that what you were wearing before would make the other pirates run away in their boots? Or…with what you're wearing now…would make them change their thoughts about you when in combat." Still not getting a reaction to them, he slouched as he gave it his best, straightened back out and smirked, "Oh, come on, you two look great."

And finally, the two boys walked out, revealing the outfits that they were now wearing. Eric's pirate outfit was pretty impressive, but wasn't too exaggerated. He was wearing a black wetsuit shirt that zipped up to his collar bone, exposing his neck as well as his surfer necklace. He also wore a short sleeved hoodie jacket that was zipped up to the midsection of his upper torso; it was colored Navy Blue on the sleeves, bottom part, but the chest was colored black, and the shoulders were white, but on the end of the sleeves were black buckles and straps. The hood was colored Navy Blue with white trim, but the inside was black, and on his back, the Seablade was strapped to the back of it. His pants were colored blue, and on the quad part of the pants, two black pouches were strapped to them on the side, and on them was a black belt that lanked on the right side, much like a pirate's belt. His knees were an upside down triangle, colored white, and the bottom halves ending in black leather straps with golden buckles on them. His shoes were actually combat sneaker boots with a blue belt buckle on them, and on his hands were black fingerless gloves with a golden buckle on the back of the hand.

Frey's outfit seemed more befitting him, seeing that it was made for maneuverability. Frey was now wearing a green wetsuit shirt that had no sleeves, and had a turtleneck to it that wasn't zipped all the way up. He also wore a black vest with a few combat pockets on the front. He also wore black fingerless gloves with a diamond shaped buckle on the wrist part. On his waist, he wore the same kind of belt that Eric had, but a different set of pants, as they were orange had a buckle on the end of them as they were buckled upward. And finally, he wore a pair of black combat sneaker boots with a yellow strap on them.

The two did look like they were in some sort of RPG game, and none of them liked it. The two groaned as they stopped in front of Jack, Gibbs, and Dax. And all Eric groaned out was, "No one say anything."

Gibbs, who was more than patient, stepped in as he stated, "Uh, Jack, boys…if we ain't through with the complaints about the wardrobe, the crew is waitin' at the port." Deciding not to argue at this point, Dax jumped on to Eric's shoulder as they made their way to where the Interceptor was anchored at. And standing in a row on the port bow, was the sorriest looking bunch of pirates you've ever laid eyes on. Although a few of them looked able-bodied enough, Eric and Frey weren't too sure about it. Not even Dax as he looked at them with much disgust as he muttered, "This is an able-body crew? They look like they were pulled out of the gutter."

Gibbs, who didn't hear what the otter muttered, exclaimed proudly with a smile to Jack as he showed them the crew. Especially the dwarf, slightly bald, had a small braided beard, and dressed in brown tattered pants, black running shoes with buckles on them, a white T-shirt, and a combat vest on, with a grenade launcher on his back. Gibbs then stated out loud as he showed them the men, "Feast your eyes, Captain. All of 'em faithful hands before the mast…every man worth his salt. And crazy to boot."

Jack looked at all of them, deep in thought about all this. That is until Eric quirked, "This…is our able-bodied crew? They don't look much."

Then Jack turned towards Eric as he shot back, "Neither did you at first." And then he turned towards a particular crewman as they stepped towards him. He was an elderly fellow, in his sixties, with a full trim beard and mustache with a full head of gray hair. He was wearing a white button-up shirt, with a brown military vest with two belts strapped around his chest with shotgun rounds, a cutlass to his side, wearing brown military combat pants, combat shoes, a brown scarf around his neck, a blue bandana tied around his head. But his most distinguishing part of him, was the yellow and blue parrot perched on his shoulder. Jack then stood in front of this chap as he started to ask, "You, Sailor."

Gibbs nodded to the man, "This be Cotton, sir."

Jack nodded as he began to ask, "Mr. Cotton. Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?" Only a few seconds past as they waited for an answer, but nothing came. Then Jack got into Cotton's face as he growled, "Mr. Cotton! Answer, man!"

Then Frey was the one to ask Gibbs as he pointed out, "Is he deaf?"

Gibbs shook his head, "Nah, he's a mute, gentlemen. Ya see, the poor devil had his tongue cut out when he was around your age.", this was made obvious as Cotton opened his mouth, and revealed the stump that was his tongue. The three humans and otter cringed at this unruly sight as Gibbs continued, "And so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No ones yet figured out how, though."

After an awkward moment of silence, Eric stepped up, and turned to the parrot as he asked, "Mr. Cotton's…parrot. Same exact question?"

The only thing that the parrot mentioned, was when it squawked, "Wind in the sails. Wind in the sails!"

The four raised a slight confused eyebrow at this as Gibbs slightly translated, "Mostly we figured that means 'Yes'."

Being satisfied, Jack shrugged, "Course it does.", and then turned to the teens as he asked, "Satisfied, gentlemen?"

Eric shot Jack a look as he stated the obvious, "Well, you've proved they're all mad."

Dax shot out as he leaned from Eric and to Jack, "Mad? These people've lost their marbles a long time ago. They're flippin' crazy!"

"And what's the benefit for us?", came a voice from the crew. The five turned to their right to see where the voice came from and saw a crewmember standing idly there. They walked over to him, and then to their surprise, and Jack's worst fear, it was a woman around twenty. She was dressed in a white button up shirt, with leather arm straps wrapped around her arms, and on her hands, tape was wrapped around the palms. She wore a belt holstering a few pouches and two Silver Eagles, Two Uzi's, and strapped to her back was a machine rifle. She wore brown yet faded combat pants and combat boots with steel tips on the boots. And she wore a hat on her head that hid her face, which Jack was praying that it wasn't who he thought it would be.

Jack gulped as he reached out, and pulled the hat off, revealing the face of a beautiful black pirate, with long hair, brown eyes, and a peeved off yet calm look on her face. Jack nervously smiled at the girl as he said her name, "Anamaria.", and that earned a pretty hard slap to his face, and a red bruise mark of it.

Then Eric leaned in to Jack as he whispered, "I suppose you didn't deserve that one either?"

Then Jack curtly and sharply remarked, "No, that one I deserved.", after rubbing the sore spot that was his cheek, he turned to face Anamaria's wrath.

She then snarled at the captain, glaring daggers at him, "You stole my boat!"

"Actually…", Jack started to explain, but that earned another slap to the face. He shook his head to get his thoughts back together as he turned back towards Anamaria, sporting a bigger bruise on his face, "Borrowed…Borrowed without permission. But I had every intention of bringing it back."

But then she bit back as she yelled, "BUT, you DIDN'T!"

Shrinking back a bit, Jack promised, "You'll get another one."

Anamaria was about to shout, back but held back as she growled, "I had better."

Then Eric stepped in, not sure about what ship they were talking about, but decided to help before this got ugly, "He'll get you a bigger one."

"A bigger one…", Jack ensured.

"A better one.", Frey chipped in.

"A better one…", Jack ensured once more.

"That one.", Dax pointed out.

"What one?", Jack asked Dax, not sure of what the little furball was implying. Dax pointed out towards out to sea, where everyone looked….right at the Interceptor. As soon as Jack saw the Interceptor, he went wide eyed with surprise. He then turned towards the otter as he growled, "That one?", Dax nodded, and then Jack, taking carefully consideration into it…and mostly not wanting to get slapped again…nodded as he looked to the crew, "Aye, that one. What say the rest of you?"

The crew, including Anamaria, who had a little while to think about it, all shouted in agreement, "AYE!". Cotton's parrot squawked out, "Anchors aweigh!", and they all ran straight to the Interceptor, preparing for the maiden voyage.

But before Jack and the boys could go on board, Gibbs stepped in. He looked mighty nervous as he pleaded, "No, no. It's frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard, sir."

Eric raised an eyebrow as he asked, "I thought you said it was bad luck to bring children on board?" He had heard what Gibbs had said to him as a boy, and now was using that against him.

Gibbs thought about it for a moment, and then stumbled at it as he stated, "Well…they're both bad luck in some cases."

Jack just gulped as he looked up at the clear sky, and muttered fearfully, "It'll be far worse not to have her aboard.", and then went towards the ship, leaving the others a little confused on what Jack was looking up at. Finally, after a few seconds, the boys, otter, and Gibbs ran after them to catch up to the crew now that they were on board the Interceptor.

Later On

It had only been ten hours after they left, that they would now run into trouble. The Interceptor had just broken into a terrible sea storm, and it wasn't doing anyone any wonders on it. The seas were pounding at the hull of the Interceptor as it cut through it like an electric knife through the toughest turkey hide during the Thanksgiving carving. Thunder roared from the darkened clouds in the sky, and rain was pouring down hard. In some cases, this was not going so well for the ship, considering sailing into rain was a bad sign to most sailors.

The crew was working feverishly, as Anamaria, Cotton, Marty, Frey, and the others worked tiresome below the deck. They were given the duty to ensure that the engines didn't shoot out. If there was one thing that they needed were the engines in full working order. And what they didn't want was for the engines to overheat from all this work. Up on deck, as the water splashed on the deck forcefully, some of the main cannons and mounted Gattling guns were being secured and covered. The ones doing it were the remainder of the crew, as well as Eric and Gibbs. Dax, who was also along with them, was doing his best to tie down the last rope in place of the canvas, but the winds and waves were making it difficult. The little otter shouted, "I don't know what's crazier! Sailing in this storm, or letting that nutcase Jack drive us into the storm!", and then suddenly, a huge wave shot out and knocked the three clear on the other side and into the railing side.

As soon as they got back up and headed back to the gun station to finish tying down the tent, Eric spotted the Captain's room. Through the windshield, Eric saw Jack doing his best to get out of the storm. But the oddest thing was, Jack wasn't using the navigational computers or table maps that were hooked up in place. Instead, Jack was trusting all his navigational skills in the same broken compass that was always on his person. He looked a little worried about this whole thing as he helped Gibbs finished with the rope, and asked while shouting out to be heard from the storms, "Just out of curiosity…how can we sail to an island that nobody can find, with a compass that cant even point North?"

Gibbs nodded as he finished the knots, "Aye, the compass doesn't point North…", but then he looked to Eric and Dax reassured, "…but we're not tryin' ta find North, now are we?

Back in the Captain's cabin, Jack was working feverishly to get the ship out of the storm. While following the compass's unpredictable and scattered turns, the door opened catching him by surprise. Gibbs, along with Eric and Dax had finished and came in to report on the ship's well being. Dax hopped on to the ground as he shook feverishly, fluffing up. As he straightened his hair out, from puffball to smooth fur again, he commented, "That's it, I hope I never go out on another storm again. Blazing barnacles."

Then it was Gibbs' turn, as he dried himself off, and turned to Jack to report, "Captain. We've got all the cannons and mounted guns all covered. The storm's gettin' a tad stronger on the direction we're goin. We should cut the main engines before they short out, sir."

Jack never tore his attention from the compass, nor outside as he bluntly replied, "She can hold a bit longer."

After drying his hair out, Eric was the one to ask with a raised eyebrow, "What's got you in such a fine mood?"

It was then that Jack turned his attention to Eric, as he smirked devilishly, "We're catching up."

Isla de Muerta

In the middle of the Caribbean's Middle of Nowhere, a large and mysterious island lay shrouded in mystery. A huge thick and dense fog covered the distance from wherever it was stationed at. It's mountainous sides were always being crashed on by waves as it's eerie presence remained unknown. However, it was not unknown, as the Black Pearl rested on its anchored port near the opening to where the treasure of Isla de Muerta was lay hidden from the outside world.

On board the ship, and in the captain's cabin, Ariel, who was back in her civilian clothing, walked back and forth, was tirelessly thinking of a plan of escape. She was wondering on what to do, and was thinking of a way out. Sebastian lay hidden in her purse, which the pirates didn't take from her. it was then that she stopped, and looked at her bracelet; the one that Tia Dalma had given her, and then looked at the window. It wasn't a dangerous drop, and the engine stopped so the propellers weren't on. She made her choice as she headed for the window, and grabbed her purse while she was at it as she stated, "I'll have to risk being discovered."

And just when she was about to get away, the doors opened. She stopped before she opened the windows as she turned and saw Barbossa, along with Pintel and Ragetti, as well as Twigg and Koehler. Then Barbossa cruelly smiled at the girl as he held up the cursed coin, "I believe it's time, Miss Thatch.", he then walked up to her, and much to her disgust, he wrapped his arms around her neck as he fastened the medallion coin around her neck. But it was then that Barbossa noticed something peculiar around the girl's neck; her golden shell necklace…with the Trident insignia engraved on the front.

It was then that Ariel shot at, "Hey, eye's up here.", she stated, catching the pervert in act.

Barbossa stepped away, as he smirked, "A nice shell necklace ya have there, Missy.", he then signaled his men to take her to the longboats for departure to the island. as they left, he pondered a little, "There be more to this girl than I thought…"

The Ship Graveyard

Through the fog-infested waters of the ocean that bordered the island of Isla de Muerta, a graveyard of ships was nestled in it. in the graveyard, there were half-sunken and full-sunken ships from every era buried in the waters, with sharks, all hammerhead, Great White, or Makko sharks swimming around it. Coming through the fog slowly and stealthily, the Interceptor was making its way through the graveyard. The crew, including Eric, Frey, and Dax, were all on the rail sides as they looked at the graveyard with much dread shivering down their spines.

Cotton's parrot, which was perched on one of the cannon ends, was squawking out loud to everyone, adding more to the chill down their spines, "Dead men tell no tales…"

Gibbs shivered as he spoke to the two boys, who looked as equally nervous, "Puts a chill in the bones how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage."

It was while Eric was on the other end, looking around; Jack had popped up at his side. Catching the boy's attention, he asked triumphantly, "The Ship Graveyard. The sign tellin' us we're close to your bonny lass." He then nudged the boy as he asked, feeling confident, "Betcha didn't think I'd get us this far?"

Eric just smirked at this as he shot back, "With that compass of yours…no way." But then he thought of something bugged him now; Jack had mentioned that he knew of his brother. But now he smirked, knowing he'd probably get a straight answer on this question, "But Will would have. Seeing I'm his brother, I'm guessing he put a lot of trust in you."

Jack caught that comment and shrugged, "Yep. Wonder what he was thinkin'?"

Then Eric took a deep breath as he asked, "How'd you two ever meet?"

Jack chuckled at that as he leaned on the rail on his back, as he started to explain, "Well, as from my life from six agents of the East India Trading company one day. Until finally they had me cornered.", he then stood up as he took out a knife as he stated, "And I was trapped with only my cutlass at my side. But they had a sword at my throat…at my chest…and then at my…."

"Pickles and eggs!", Dax shouted as he walked out of the stairwell, carrying a basket of pickles and boiled eggs for everyone to eat.

Both Eric and Jack were a little silent and confused by that outburst, but then returned back to normal. Jack cleared his throat as he muttered, "Well, you get the idea.", and then explained again, "And then suddenly, a fourth blade popped up. It was none other than your brother; he was walking there, minding his business, until he saw the whole thing. So he ran over and he and I fought against them. And boy did we fight. It was like we rehearsed the whole thing.", he then smirked as he stated, "It was only after the fight, that I'd hire him as my Swordsman and second mate aboard my ship. We were best mates ever since."

Eric smiled at that, knowing a little more about his brother, and that Jack held his brother with much regard. But then something bugged him even more as he asked, though still smiling, "What happened to him?" It was then that Jack's smirk faded as he seemed troubled, but Eric asked again, "What is it, Jack?"

And then he answered in a gloomy tone, "I'm afraid I don't know that, lad.", and then walked over to Anamaria and Cotton for something, but not before he replied, "Only Barbossa knows that for sure."

Eric was left stumped on that, even more so than before. He then looked over to Gibbs as he and Frey were working on the last preparations on one of the motorized longboats. He knew that if anyone knew more about Jack Sparrow, it had to have been Gibbs. He walked over to them as he asked, "Hey, Gibbs. How'd Jack come across that weird compass?"

Not turning away from his work, he finished as eh answered, "Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow, fore he showed up in Tortuga to after the treasure of Isla de Muerta.", he then finished as he looked at Jack as he was giving orders for any preparations, and finished, "That was before I met him, back when he was captain of the Black Pearl."

It was then that the boys' attention was brought up. They turned towards Gibbs, full of surprise as they asked in unison, "What?", and then Dax looked at Jack when he commented, "Well, he failed to mention that."

Gibbs nodded as he replied, "Well he plays things closer to the vest now. And a hard-learned lesson it was."

Eric then asked, "How's that?"

Gibbs sighed as he signaled for the three to sit down with him as he told them the tale, "Ya see, three days out, the first mate come to him and tells him everything's an equal share. That includes the location of the treasure, so Jack gives up the bearings.", but then Gibbs voice went down to a little dread as he looked at the boys seriously, "That night...there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die…but not before he'd gone mad with the heat."

The boys looked at that and then seemed to get it, even Dax as Eric stated, "Ah. So that's the reason for all the…", and then made his point as he did his best impersonation of Jack with his movements.

But then Gibbs commented, "Reason's got nuthin' to do with it.", and then he got back to the story as he emphasized, "now boys, when a pirate's marooned, he's givin' a gun with a single bullet. One bullet."

Then it was Frey's turn as he stated, "Like Jack's Silver Eagle?"

Gibbs nodded, "Aye.", but then stated, "Well that one shot won't do much good for hunting or to be rescued.", but then he gave the boys a crazed smile as he pointed his fingers to his head, "But after threes weeks on a starving belly and thirst…that gun's startin' ta look real friendly." But then his face turned serious as he stated, "But Jack escaped the island, and he still carries with him the Silver Eagle with one bullet. Oh, he won't use on anyone save for one man: his mutinous first mate, who's now the Captain of the Black Pearl."

And then Eric replied with much distaste, "Barbossa.", Gibbs nodded, but then Eric had one final question as he asked, "So…how did Jack escape the island?"

Gibbs smirked as he stated, "Well, I'll tell ye. He waded out into the shallows, and he waited there three days and three nights. Till all manner of sea creatures came, acclimated to his presence." The teens and otter were listening, but they were starting to have their doubts about the truth in this story as Gibbs finished, "But on the fourth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea turtles; lashed them together and made a raft."

The teens and otter had a skeptical look on their faces as they heard that last part. There was no way that was true, but Then Frey asked, not believing this, "He roped a couple of sea turtles?"

Gibbs nodded, "Aye. Sea turtles."

And then Eric asked, not sure if this was true or not, "What did he use for rope?" it was then that Gibbs was stumped on that as he tried to think of the answer. But before anyone could figure that out, they felt a shadow loom over them at the side. they turned and saw Jack Sparrow…who had listened to the whole thing.

"Human hair…", Jack answered, letting in a small pause as he finished, "From my back." He then ordered to weigh anchor as the crew worked once more, and then Jack turned towards Eric and Dax as he ordered, "Mr. Thatch, you and your furry companion are to accompany me to shore.", and before Frey protested, Jack shot out, "I need you on board to help with the ship, Mr. Asapin. Should things go to the worst."

Eric got up as he grabbed the Seablade and fastened it to his back. Dax jumped up on Eric's shoulder as the two followed Jack, but not before Gibbs asked, "Captain, what if the worst should happen?"

Jack simply answered, "Keep to the code.", Gibbs nodded at that, and Jack, Eric, and Dax made their way to the motor longboat, as they prepared for the rescue.

Next Chapter: The Cursed Treasure; Black Pearl vs. The Interceptor

Authors' Note: The outfit that Eric wears is a combinational concept of Cloud's outfit from FF7 Advent Children, and Sora's Wisdom Drive form. Frey's outfit was a redone version of Goofy's…mainly because I thought it looked good.