Jack had been silent since Will and the Captain had been thrown off the ship and was being walked toward the slender doorway to their (what they assumed was) impending doom. Will would glance at him – knowing his silence was uncharacteristic. Suddenly and quickly Jack began: "Ah mate, you know when you were trapped in tha' cargo hold in the Dauntless? …Aye, I though' you'd died in tha' ship when they blew it up."

Will looked quizzically at him. "I can only guess it was sheer luck I escaped."

Silence again followed. The randomness of Jacks comment bewildered Will. Though there were many things about Jack that never made any sense.

"You remember me brother, the other pirate Andreas?"

"Yes." Will replied solemnly. "They one that di-"

Jack cut him off quickly and shot him a sideways glare. "Well I received one of his riddles today…you like tha' sort of thing, don't ya?"

Will was utterly confused. Jack had told him that Andreas was dead – he had died many years ago. And what was this about a riddle? Will played along, knowing that Jack was taking this somewhere.

"Sure. What did it say?"

"It said…Pizzaro's mission lies where friends almost died for gold in the captain's one true love…."

Will let out a laugh of indifference. "What the hell does that mean? Jack you can't possibly-"

"Aye. Think about it mate. Andreas needs the answer as soon as possible." Jacks voice was harsh and his eyes bore through Will like a knife through butter. "Think about it."

Andrew pushed Will forward and hit Jack in the back of the head "You two shut your traps!. … No more of this trivial talk about riddles. If either of you say another word I'm blowing your brains out. " He said as he rested his other hand on the handle of his pistol.

Jack gave him one of his signature cock-eyed smiles. "I don't think you'll be doin' that. You brought us here for a reason…"

Andrew shoved Jack against the rock wall of the narrow hallway as he spat the words he spoke to him. Although they were out of the moonlight and Paul and Andrew could be seen in their entirety it was obvious the curse had taken its toll. "Speak no more Sparrow. Remember whom is in shackles."

The cursed young man took Jack and Will by the collars and continued to push them onward though there was no light to guide their way. They were forced to feel their way through that jagged edges of the rock walls. Every 20 yards or so there would be one solitary torch to cast a red glow on their path.

Will was hardly concentrating on where he was going. He was too busy thinking of what Jack had said moments earlier…so he broke up the riddle into pieces:

'Pizzaro's mission' – It didn't take him long to conclude that it must refer to the Aztec Gold. It was Pizzaro and his men that captured the Aztec king and stole his fortune. 'Lies where friends almost died for gold….' Will bit his lip in thought. "Where friends almost died…" He repeated, only for his ears to hear. He remembered that He himself had gone below deck to retrieve that medallion when he and Elizabeth had left it…that's why Jack had mentioned it before hand. Then the 'Captain's one true love' – that had to be the Pearl. Will quickly realized that the Aztec chest of gold was in the cargo hold of the Pearl. His first reaction was surprise, which quickly rose to anger, for Jack had lied to him. Will cleared his throat and spoke lowly to his bound friend next to him.

"So why didn't Andreas tell you that the…mission was accounted for?"

Jack switched his eyes back and forth. "Ah well he didn't want anyone to know…cant be too careful now-a-days."

"Right." Will replied resentfully. Will thought a moment and realized that if the chest was aboard the Pearl, and the Pearl was merely right outside – docked on the beach, and the only thing they needed to do was to get Andrew and Paul's pieces to break the spell then they needed to get the two together. "How does he think to complete the mission…again? Bring mission to them?"

Jack looked oddly reassured. "Ah. Well I think the answer is the bring Muhammad to the mountain...they'll come to it."

"Shut up!" Andrew bellowed from behind them, echoing all around. "Neither of you two speak! All of this about a bloody mission…."

When they turned the corner Jack and Will froze. Before them stood stacks and mounds of human bones and other remains. They lined the walls in sick designs of grotesque art and décor. In the center of the large room was an alter of rock and behind that was a large black man with a ceremonial headdress of many different kinds of feathers and colors. But the thing that stood out the most about the man was the white paint that covered his body and the human bone that pierced his nose. Torches were stuck in the ground and against the walls, which made the eyes want to follow them upwards. The ceiling was a hundred feet high with an opening at the top allowing the moon to create a perfect spot light on the alter before them.

Andrew and Paul pushed passed the other men, with Andrew's sly sickening smile returning to his drawn face. "Just makes you feel all warm inside, doesn't it boys?"

Jack turned to his friend with wide eyes… "Interesting."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X

"Oh whoa! No you don't…I'll go." Protested Bill as he extended his hand to Elizabeth.

She looked at him with an arched eyebrow. Until now he had remained quiet about the plan that the crew and her were forming to rescue her husband and their captain. Now that they had lowered the boat, and Elizabeth, Gibbs, and Anna had gotten in – he suddenly wasn't allowing it.

"And why not Mr. Turner?"

"You can't go Elizabeth! If something happened to you I'd never forgive myself. You're my son's only pride and joy…now get out!"

She breathed heavily at his command. "First of all – do not order me like I am a part of your crew. And second, if you are so worried about your son then get in the boat with us! No one is stopping you…"

Bill almost took it as a challenge that she suggested. Quickly he jumped down on the ladder and climbed in the rowboat, sitting squarely next to Elizabeth. Liz smiled at him then looked up to the crew on the Diable. "Alright listen! If you can – try to get the ship ashore, you haven't got much time but put everything you've got in it! Remember you're captain is in need."

One of the crewmembers retorted. "He was left behind. Jack always said that if a man fell behind then-"

"I don't care what he said then! … If you let him die now then you wont have a captain to take orders from. Now get a move on!"

The crew dispersed and prepared the battered ship to sail once more. Gibbs and Bill took the oars as they rowed steadily toward the distant island. Elizabeth's eyes were fixed on the blackened waters below her. She mechanically rubbed the silver ring on her left ring finger. She remembered the night that Will had given it to her – how he went down on one knee the night they ran away together. Elizabeth sat up straighter and breathed deeply to control herself from crying in front of everyone. Liz glanced up at Anna who was staring off into the distance as well. For a second the was unmoving and Elizabeth kept her eyes on her solemn face. Anna blinked and a single tear rolled down her cheek – but within in a split second it was wiped away with a movement of her hand. Elizabeth slightly smiled to herself as she realized that Annamaria's wall was finally down.

And the oars kept rowing and the water kept moving…