A/N: Here are the next two chapters. I only have three chapters left to write, and then it's on to the next one in the saga (the name of which I'll reveal at the end of this story). Also, I've come up with an interesting way to get you all ready for the next adventure, as mentioned before. But I won't say anything else. Anyway, enjoy!

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Chapter 18

Elizabeth groggily opened her eyes as the veil of blackness was lifted from her mind and her surroundings slowly came into focus. Immediately, Elizabeth became aware of a throbbing pain in the back of her skull. Gradually, she began to remember the events that had transpired before now: she had been fighting ominous stone warriors that had been created by some type of dark magic in the ruins of Atlantis. Elizabeth recalled her son, Michael, battling right beside her, which contributed to them defeating the wraiths. But, through a series of circumstances that Elizabeth was unable to recollect, she had evidently been knocked unconscious and taken aboard what she deduced was Henry Morgan's ship. Her thoughts suddenly jumped to Will and Michael and Elizabeth turned her head to the right.

On the right side of Elizabeth, Will stood unconscious as well. His hands were in shackles that ran upward to a point on the wooden wall behind them. It was then that Elizabeth realized that she too was in shackles embedded in the ship's interior. Elizabeth looked on her left and was met with the sight of Michael in the same situation. Elizabeth's heart went out to the two most important men in her life and began to curse pirates like Morgan in her mind.

Next, Elizabeth started to absorb her surroundings. It was evident that the three of them were currently in the part of the ship usually reserved for the brig. However, there were no cellblocks forged from iron within sight. Instead, each wall was lined with the exact same chains that the Turner family were confined in. A dim lighting emanated from a few torches scattered here and there around the small space, causing a certain sense of foreboding to wash over Elizabeth. Whatever Morgan had in store for them had to be worse enough to prompt his victims being restrained by powerful iron chains and shackles.

Elizabeth once again turned to face the still unconscious form that was her husband and made desperate hissing noises in an attempt to wake Will up.

"Will! Will!"

When whispers and urgent pleas failed to work, Elizabeth decided to shout Will's name.

"WILL!"

The shout seemed to jolt Will to his senses as he stirred and shook his head, waking up within a minute. Will weakly lifted his head and opened his eyes as if he were awakening from a relatively bad hangover. He tried to rub his eyes, but as a result discovered that his hands were in chains and could not move them but a few inches ahead of him.

In exasperation, Will looked around the room and spotted Elizabeth staring at him.

"Where are we?" His voice was more of a croak.

"Onboard Morgan's ship, I believe," Elizabeth answered.

"Michael?"

"He's right here beside me," Elizabeth reassured Will, indicating their son on her left. Michael was beginning to wake up as well.

Will glanced around again and a confused expression came across his face. "Where's Jack?" he asked.

It was only after Will had mentioned it that Elizabeth noticed that the eccentric pirate captain was absent. "I'm not sure." She gazed into Will's eyes. "Either they left him behind or he's dead."

Before Will could reply, the uncertain voice of Michael Turner filled the air. "Mum? Dad? What's going on?"

"I don't know, darling." Elizabeth did her best to mask her uneasiness with the most convincing soothing tone she could muster. "Just try to stay calm, alright? Can you do that for me?"

Michael nodded his head as his face took on an expression of worry. "Yes, Mummy."

"Will, Morgan has the amulet."

"Yes. And that can only mean one thing: he's ready to create his own world."

"If that happens, then no one will have anything left to live for."

Will nodded uneasily.

"What can we do?" Elizabeth asked.

"We need to find a way to escape and stop Morgan before he destroys the Caribbean." Will's voice carried only absolute certainty.

"And how are we going to do that? We're chained up with no sign of a key."

"I don't know how we're going to escape!" Will snapped petulantly. "I'm just as in the blue about this as you are!"

"I'm only trying to help, Will..."

"Then help me by keeping quiet!"

Elizabeth paused a moment before continuing on. "Will...I understand your bitterness, I really do. But I need your help in getting out of here."

Will glared at Elizabeth coldly. "When was the last time you didn't need my help? I thought that when Michael was born we agreed that we would never find ourselves in this type of situation ever again. But look where we are...because of you."

Elizabeth opened her mouth in shock. "I didn't ask for this to happen, Will. Why would I want my life and the lives of everyone I love to be threatened?"

"It's not that. It's just the prospect of a high-seas adventure that you so desperately crave. After eight years of marriage, Elizabeth, I've come to know you a lot better."

"How am I to blame, then?" Elizabeth shot back.

"If you remember correctly, I was adamant about turning back and heading home they moment Jack tricked us onto his ship. You could have supported my decision, Elizabeth, but instead you chose to take part in another one of Jack's misadventures. And now here we are, chained to a ship awaiting death."

Elizabeth's eyes shone with a feeling of understanding that had completely blind-sided her. "Will, I...I had no idea you felt this strongly about it. Is that what's troubling you? The fact that we've been thrust back into a world we thought we left behind?"

"That...and more," Will replied tonelessly.

"What more could there be?"

"The fact that...I'm not...strong enough." Will did nothing except hang his head hopelessly.

An uncomfortable silence followed, which was only broken after Elizabeth had found her voice again. "What do you mean you're not strong? I've seen you fight...you're very strong."

"That's not what I mean. I'm saying...I'm not strong enough to continue on with my life if I were to lose you, Elizabeth. I just can't. That's why I'm so angry right now; I feel like I've failed you after I swore that I would protect you for as long as I live."

Once again, Elizabeth stared at Will and every ounce of care and compassion she had for him poured out of her eyelids. "I'm not going anywhere, Will. And you haven't failed me in any way. You're a good husband and a good father; I couldn't ask for a better man to spend the rest of my life with." She paused for a minute, biting her lip. "But you can't protect me all the time. If you know me so well, then you should be aware that I can take care of myself when the situation calls for it. And if you think I got involved in all this without so much as a second thought, then you're wrong. I'll always have the best interests of the ones I care about ahead of anything else. We're in this together, Will. I love you."

Will gazed back at Elizabeth meaningfully. "I love you too."

Despite the chains that restrained their arms, Will and Elizabeth leaned in toward each other until they were close enough to kiss. They did, and did so passionately and as if they had been separated for years. They broke apart only when their air supply started to wear thin.

"Mum, Dad, stop snogging and start finding a way to get out of here." Michael found that he could do nothing but roll his eyes.

Will nodded in agreement and examined the chains more closely. "Our only hope of getting out of these shackles is stealing the key that unlocks them."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

Will thought for a moment. "More than likely, Morgan will pay us a little visit sometime soon. When he does, we need to find a way to somehow get the key off his person."

"That's supposing he even has the key with him," Elizabeth said somewhat doubtfully.

"Morgan would want to make sure that we wouldn't be able to escape this ship, and the only way to ensure that would be for him to keep the key to these shackles with him at all times. It's the best plan we have at the moment," Will added hastily after spotting Elizabeth's slightly skeptical expression. "Trust me."

"I do trust you," Elizabeth replied honestly.

"Good. Then all we have to do now is wait."

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Jack awoke rather suddenly on the very spot where he had been knocked unconscious by Morgan. Hesitantly, he sat up, rubbing the spot on the back of his head which ached painfully.

"Bloody pirates," he cursed.

Slowly, Jack got to his feet and looked around for some sign of human activity. But alas, there was none. Next, Jack turned toward the shore, desiring to check on the status of his ship.

Both the Black Pearl and The Nightmare were still anchored to the seabed, floating peacefully beside each other. However, something did not seem right to Jack. Being a professional pirate, Jack could sense whenever something was amiss and at the moment, he could tell quite clearly that something was definitely not right.

Jack checked his sheath, only to find his sword missing from it. That he could have easily predicted. But, miraculously, Morgan and his men seemed to have left Jack's pistol untouched.

"Idiotic pirates," he said with a grin.

Before Jack did anything else, though, he pulled out his unique compass and flipped it open. The dial spun madly for a few seconds until it finally rested, pointing toward the Pearl. Jack looked up and examined his ship with curiosity for a while. Then, he replaced his compass while still gripping his pistol firmly. Jack checked to see that the weapon was properly loaded before he took off running in his usual manner toward the Black Pearl.

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Inside Henry Morgan's quarters, the curtains were drawn over the windows, blocking out the bright rays of light from the outside. The black candle's purple flame was shining brightly, which meant that Hades had once again come to speak with his servant.

Hades stood with his hands behind his back and an expression of white hot anger plastered across his face.

"What do you mean you won't hand over the amulet?"

"What do you think it means?" Morgan retorted. "It's high time I did something for myself."

"Is it, now?" asked Hades. "And what's to stop me from coercing you into giving me the amulet?"

Morgan chuckled condescendingly. "You won't try to stop me." He dangled the amulet in front of Hades' eyes. "Not as long as you want this. I have the amulet, so I have the power."

"You seem highly presumptuous, Morgan," Hades said. "Remember, you, in fact, are not blessed with immortality. I did that because I feared you might do something like this one day."

"Did you, now? Well, it just goes to show...you can never trust a pirate."

Hades stood rooted to the spot, fuming to himself. Finally, he spoke again. "What are your intentions, then?"

"To show the Caribbean no mercy. To bring it to it's knees. Because of the people inhabiting the Caribbean, I was forced to fake my own death, to become your indentured servant, to be reduced to nothing more than a common bounty hunter for the Devil instead of staying a freedom-loving pirate. I've repaid you for all the trouble you've caused me, it's high time I repay the Caribbean and East India Trading Company for what they turned me into."

Hades smirked. "That doesn't answer the question."

"Let's just say that a new age is about to dawn, along with a new world. Literally."

"But," Hades said silkily, "if you fail in your little escapade, know that I myself will come for your soul and sentence you to an eternity of damnation."

"I won't fail."

"I say once again...you are entirely too presumptuous." Hades paused. "Are there any other factors to consider?"

"Such as?"

"Is there anyone who could pose a threat to your seemingly perfect plan?"

Morgan shrugged indifferently. "Only Sparrow, his crew, and that Turner family. But they are all taken care of."

"Dead?"

"No. But they will be soon."

"When you kill Sparrow, make sure don't do any lasting damage. After all, I desire his soul intact and don't want it to be crippled in any way."

"I left Sparrow marooned on the shore. He'll most certainly die a slow and agonizing death of hunger, thirst, and heat."

"Just remember my warning. If I were you, I would ensure success was well within my reach."

With that, Hades retreated back into the purple flame of the black candle. The instant the purple flame went out, every other normal candle flickered to life while the curtains of the cabin window were flung outward by some invisible force.

Morgan glanced around his cabin with a weary eye before exiting the space and starting to make his way down to the brig.