Chapter 11

Will was sitting next to a lantern in Calypso's cabin, sharpening his sword, when the sea goddess herself walked in. She stood in front of her new crew mate until he chose to acknowledge her by putting his sword aside and looking up at her with cold, emotionless eyes.

"What?"

"I just wanted to have a few words with you, William," said Calypso in a deceptively sweet tone of voice.

"So go ahead and have them," replied Will indifferently.

Calypso smirked as she pulled up a chair and sat down. "During your time with me, you've done things that, if you were still your noble self, you wouldn't even have considered doing. For example, you helped kill Sparrow's crew, murdering his first mate yourself, and watched as you gave away your family to a notorious Pirate Lord forever."

Will eyed Calypso suspiciously. "Are my loyalties coming into question?"

"Not at all," Calypso assured him, "nor do I have any reason to. I'm merely making sure that you won't somehow go back on our unspoken agreement and attempt to help out your old friends."

"How could I help them, even if I wanted to? You're the one who made me this way, so you're the only one who can turn me back."

Calypso sighed. "So it would seem." When Will gave her an inquisitive expression, she continued. "Unfortunately, the power to reawaken your good side doesn't fall under my list of capabilities. That power lies within the person who's been…altered."

"So you're basically telling me to keep my priorities straight, is that it?" Will asked with a hint of an edge to his voice.

"Basically," Calypso nodded. "We're embarking on a decidedly dangerous journey, and I need every assurance that you will do what I tell you, no matter what. Even if that means killing people you think should live. I will kill anyone if that is necessary, and I expect you to operate under that very same prerogative."

Will stared at Calypso unflinchingly for a few seconds before he finally said, "You don't have to worry about me. I'm not going to go chasing after my former wife. She's not important anymore."

"While half of you may say that, the other half would obviously disagree. Just make sure that half stays dead."

"No problem."

Just then, the cabin door opened and one of Calypso's disfigured henchmen poked his ugly head inside. "Captain, a ship's been spotted right in front of us. Orders?"

Calypso glanced at Will and smiled in an evil manner. "Shall we?" She stood up and exited the cabin with the crew member.

Will lingered for a moment, as he replaced his sword. However, when he stood up, he flinched and shuddered on the spot. As he did, Calypso's cruel words about killing anyone and his own about no longer caring for Elizabeth raced through his body, followed by a wave of emotion that engulfed his heart. What was this feeling? Concern? Desperation? Love? Whatever it was showed itself in Will's eyes when he opened them again and for those few seconds, he appeared as if he was his true self again. But just as quickly as this peculiar sensation had come, it vanished with Will shaking his head to clear it. Will then regained his bearings and proceeded out onto the main deck to join Calypso.

Perhaps the old Will, the one who befriended Jack Sparrow, married Elizabeth and had a child with her, was still in there. Maybe he was simply waiting for the opportunity to regain control of his consciousness.

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"I've never understood any of these elaborate tortures," said Sheng Kai Shek as he stood in front of a long wooden table and unrolled a length of leather across it. Inside the length of leather, sitting in separate pouches, were various weapons, tools of torture shaped in ways that to even imagine what they were used for sent chills down the spine. "But what I have always understood is that everyone has their breaking point, and the trick is to push them to that breaking point." Shek removed a menacing-looking knife curved in a way that it almost resembled a question mark and had a spiked edge. He held it up to the light filtering into the brig to observe it.

Out of the cell and tied to a chair a short distance away from him was Elizabeth, her eyes brimming with defiance.

"However," Shek continued, "if that approach proves unsuccessful, alternative measures are required."

"What do you want from me?" asked Elizabeth sharply.

"I believe you're withholding valuable information concerning the Essence from me, and it's my intention to extract that information from you, Mrs. Turner." Seng Kai Shek slowly approached Elizabeth, the knife held threateningly in his right hand.

Once Shek was within mere inches of Elizabeth, he began circling her menacingly, his eyes dancing across her body, seemingly searching for the perfect place to start. Elizabeth stared up vehemently at Shek when he was back in front of her.

"You can torture me all you want, Shek, but I'll never say anything."

Shek smiled a smile that actually managed to get underneath Elizabeth's skin. What did this gesture mean? "Mrs. Turner, what makes you think I'm going to torture you?" Shek turned, which allowed Elizabeth a view of two of Skek's men standing on either side of Michael, who was restrained similarly to his mother.

This made Elizabeth's blood run cold. It only took a short look at the sheer fear and terror on her son's face to cause an explosion of anger to burst inside of Elizabeth. "Let him go," she said in a quivering whisper.

In response, Shek simply waltzed over to where Michael was and turned to face Elizabeth again. "It would seem that I've chosen the perfect method, then. Now, I'll give you one last chance. What do you know about the location of the Essence?"

By now, Elizabeth had become so transfixed by the sight of her son about to be hurt that she had absentmindedly managed to tune out everything else. Her unresponsiveness prompted Shek to proceed.

"Very well." He moved to cut Michael with the knife, but it was just then that Elizabeth awakened from her stupor.

"NO!"

Shek paused just a the tip of the knife was about to penetrate the skin of Michael's neck. He looked up at Elizabeth and smirked.

"Speak."

Elizabeth opened her mouth to do so, but before anything resembling a word could escape, a huge explosion rocked the ship and the left wall of the brig burst from the blast of a cannonball that subsequently tore through the opposite wall a few seconds later. Jack, who had been watching silently from a different cell, immediately leapt to his feet.

The force of the sudden blast caused Elizabeth's chair to be thrown backward. The chair skidded a few inches and the ropes that encircled her legs loosened just enough for Elizabeth to slide her booted feet free. So when one of Shek's men came over to pull her upright, Elizabeth delivered two swift kicks to him; the first to his gut, the second to his face. The pirate landed hard on his back. Then, Elizabeth stood up by herself, her hands still tied to he armrests if the chair.

By now, the sound of an all-out battle had erupted on the main deck. The next guard, sword in hand, came charging at Elizabeth. Elizabeth got herself ready, and positioned herself appropriately so that when the guard swung his blade down, it cut the bonds holding down Elizabeth's arms. Now free completely, Elizabeth was able to use her fists as weapons as she delivered an uppercut to the guard's chin and kicked his legs out from underneath him at the same time. Just as the guard's body was falling to the wooden deck, Elizabeth managed to snatch the keys to Jack's cell from his belt and toss them to Jack's awaiting hand. He caught them.

"Thanks, luv."

Jack went to work freeing himself as Elizabeth and Sheng Kai Shek faced each other. Shek whipped out his sword in one fluid motion, and Elizabeth snatched up her new silver sword from a nearby table it had been placed on. The sounds of clashing swords and firing guns continued to flood the air around them, drifting down from the main deck. Occasionally, the ship itself would rock from the impact of more cannonballs that hit in different areas of the vessel. Both Shek and Elizabeth eyed each other for a few moments as Jack exited his cell.

"Jack," Elizabeth addressed him, "take Michael someplace safe." Her voice carried an unwavering calmness that greatly contrasted with the brief fear she had shown only moments before.

Jack dutifully set about freeing Michael from his bonds, curiously without any commentary on his part, and they both went down a narrow pathway that normally wouldn't be on a ship, but would be on ones of Chinese design.

This left Elizabeth and Shek alone in the brig. Neither wasted any time in engaging each other in battle. Their swords met in midair, but only temporarily; the blades created a brilliant amount of silver light as they blurred in various arcs around the people wielding them. When Sheng tried to advance, Elizabeth stepped back and swiped, which tore Sheng's outer coat. Sheng shed the garment, shrugging it to the ground and continued the duel.

As Elizabeth and Sheng fought, another cannonball tore through the brig, followed by two more. The force of these blasts caused an overhanging lantern to be knocked from its hanger and fall to the floor, immediately igniting that portion of the floor in flames. At the same time, Elizabeth and Sheng's fight progressed past the unconscious guard, whose sword Sheng managed to snatch up. He was now twice as lethal.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Sheng delivered blows with both hands one at a time and Elizabeth was able to block each one of them. Next, Elizabeth managed to swing in below Sheng's waist, but Sheng caught Elizabeth's sword in between both of his. Once all three blades were free, Sheng attempted to slice open Elizabeth's skull, but Elizabeth caught him before he could, providing her with ample opportunity to deliver a hard punch to Sheng's gut. Once Sheng had recovered from the blow, a few more seconds of him clanging swords with Elizabeth followed before the flames behind them reached a barrel of gunpowder and a split-second later, a small explosion sent Elizabeth and Sheng flying into the far wall.

The explosion also caused the wooden structure of the ship to blast apart in that particular area, which in turn caused seawater to begin sweeping into the brig.

Elizabeth was the first to recover from the explosion, and after she had pulled herself to her feet, she noticed that Sheng was on his feet as well. Elizabeth quickly observed that both of Sheng's sword was out of his reach, but just within hers, so she punched him hard enough so that he went against the wall. Elizabeth then swiped up the two swords and threw them in under five seconds.

Each sword lodged itself in the wooden wall of the ship, connecting with the fabric of Sheng's shirt that hung limply under his armpits; this pinned Sheng to the wall.

Elizabeth stared at him without remorse. "Captain goes down with the ship."

The flames were starting to grow to dangerous inferno-like heights, so Elizabeth quickly sheathed her pure silver sword and jumped over a line of flames to dash up the stairs leading to the main deck of the ship.

The sight that Elizabeth was met with was one of pure chaos. The dark night sky was occasionally lit by the flashes of pistol fire, but the air itself was a tidal wave of clashing steel overpowered by the screams and grunts of burly pirates engaged in the sweat and exhaustion-inducing dance that was known as the duel. And Sheng's men were losing.

Elizabeth spotted Jack and Michael pressed against the portside, clearly avoiding the madness at hand. She dashed over them, having to jump over bodies of men that were either dead or unconscious only three times. However, once she reached Jack and Michael, there came an unexpected problem. Will was there in a flash, and he swiped at Jack without a word. Jack managed to sidestep the motion, but as he did, he tripped and fell into the ocean. Will then grabbed Elizabeth and made to stab Elizabeth directly through the heart, but in the instant that their eyes met, Will's face went from cold, hard and menacing to confused and concerned. Elizabeth recognized this change in demeanor.

"Will."

She whispered her husband's name as if saying it out loud were a sin. But just as fast as the glimmer of humanity made itself visible on Will's face, it disappeared just as quickly. Will sharply glanced to his side to see Calypso approaching them at an alarming rate. Will looked back at Elizabeth and tossed her into the ocean.

"MUM!"

Michael stared desperately down at the ocean as Elizabeth's head popped back up onto the surface. He shot a look at Will that combined confusion and fear before diving in after his mother.

Just then, Calypso came to stand beside Will. "You let her live?"

"I'll kill her later. It needs a more intimate setting." Will coldly glanced at Calypso. "I want to make sure her heart is truly broken before I run my blade through whatever's left of it."

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Elizabeth swam over to Michael once he had resurfaced for air. "Are you alright?" she asked as she hugged him close to her. "I'm so sorry that you were put into such danger."

"Mum, why would Dad do that to you?"

"He saved your mum's life, lad," said Jack as he swam up to them. "It would seem the William we all know is still putting up a fight against Calypso. Otherwise, we'd all surely be dead by now."

"so what's our next course of action? The map to the Essence is still aboard that ship, and in a short while, a leak will force it to sink."

"First things first. We need to regroup someplace dry and figure out our next step."

"But how? Even if we can reach that island, (Elizabeth indicated a spit of land in the short distance) how will we get there?"

Jack didn't respond, because he was busy staring at something past her. Elizabeth swiveled around to see what Jack was looking at: an approaching rowboat with two figures inside that were just barely discernible in the blackness. As the rowboat got nearer, the two people finally became recognizable: it was Pintel and Ragetti.

"Spank me twice and name me Sally!" said Jack. "Am I happy to see those two."

After a relatively silent boatride that followed hurried explanations, the contingent of five people reached the island. Pine trees stretched into the sky, illuminated by the moonlight. Silence engulfed the island, making it unclear whether or not it was safe to inhabit.

Jack and Elizabeth didn't even consider the possibility of danger as they led their group deep into the heart of the island. It took a ten-minute trudge through low-hanging branches and discarded logs before the sight of a dim light filled everyone's eyesight.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Pintel said to Ragetti as the light went from dim to a brighter and more orange-like haze.

The light emanated from torches that were resting in carved-in places for them in a circle of tree trunks. There was an open area in the middle of these trees, with rope loops that neither Jack nor Elizabeth noticed before they each placed a foot in them, causing the ropes to close around their ankles and yank them up into the air. Michael, Pintel and Ragetti were left on their feet and staring up at Jack and Elizabeth, who were now hanging upside down.

Just then, four figures carrying rifles emerged from the greenery, two aiming at the three figures still on the ground and the other two aiming at Jack and Elizabeth.

"Andrew," said one of the figures, a woman with lengthy brown hair and tight-fitting clothes, "it seems we have some guests." She spoke to a man with a muscular body and a few days worth of stubble.

Andrew, the man, kept his eyes trained on Jack and Elizabeth as he responded. "Cut them down and take them back with us. And Rachel, try not to hurt anyone this time."