A/N: Well, finally, here are the last three chapters of the story. As of now, there are four remaining nstallments on my "Pirates" series, and I promise you they will be four fantastic adventures. Make sure to check out the "What To Expect" note attached after the final chapter. Also, I will be writing some other fanfics at the same time, so the next story has no official release date, but you'll definitely find out when it does. Just keep an eye on my "POTC Trailers" piece on here.

And, as always...enjoy!

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Chapter 15

When Will opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded by nightmarish sights.

It appeared to be a cave of some sort, the walls composed of sharp, jagged rock that was made even more terrifying by sudden bursts of lightning that originated from a misty bluish cloud which floated overhead. The entire place was shrouded in a very deep blue which glowed dully off of Will's skin.

As Will began to slowly walk forward, a gravelly crunching sound reached his ears. He looked down to see a wave of rocks, each of varying size, beneath his booted feet. Will pulled his head back up and noticed that he was on some sort of isolated landmass, which was surrounded by a moat of sorts. However, this moat of glowing blue water contained white outlines of human figures that teetered on the edge of being completely transparent. Maybe that was where the incessant low moaning was coming from, Will figured, because there was no other obvious choice for the source of the haunting sound.

Will carefully approached the edge of his little island-like landmass as his eyes continued to take in the images that covered him from all sides. I must be in hell, he thought.

But the instant Will came to the edge, a foreboding figure unexpectedly darted up from out of nowhere. This caused Will to take a few startled steps backward as the figure, who was surrounded by blue flames, came to a rest directly in front of Will.

The figure, a man, was dressed in black from head to toe; even his hands were hidden underneath black gloves that gripped the silver tip of a cane in front of him. Hades studied Will, taking in his appearance very carefully, making sure not to miss even the tiniest of details…including the open but dry wound directly over Will's heart that looked as if it should have been gushing blood, but wasn't.

"It would appear I have a fresh soul on my hands," said Hades silkily. "Allow me to introduce myself. Hades, Lord of the Underworld. It's always a pleasure to meet souls who have come down here only seconds after their death. They are always filled with terror and confusion…it's such an amusing experience. What's your name?"

Will glanced around one last time before giving his answer. "William Turner."

"Well, William Turner, what sins have brought you down to my humble abode?"

Will didn't need long to reply. "I've done terrible things. Things I never would have thought myself capable of. Torture, murder, insurmountable hatred for those I care about."

"A man after my own heart," Hades sneered. "But, pray tell, what motivated you to commit such terrible deeds if you had no intention of doing them in the first place?"

"The sea goddess Calypso."

At these words, Hades regarded Will with a bit more interest. With a wave of his hand, Hades conjured up two black high-backed chairs; one for him and the other for Will. "Care to sit down?"

Will examined the chair for any signs of malicious tinkering before he obliged Hades by sitting down. Rather than feeling comfortable and relaxing, this chair instead felt hard and jagged underneath Will's body.

"Tell me…how were you involved with Calypso?"

"She abducted me before turning me over to her side. That's how she was able to force me to carry out her orders. I had no choice." Will paused momentarily. "But why do you care?"

"Calypso is my sister. You see, every God or Goddess is somehow related to another. Calypso is my sister and as you may already know, my brother is Zeus." Hades eyed Will curiously. "So did Calypso kill you herself?"

"Yes. With a blade she claimed would send my soul directly here, no matter how pure my soul really is." When Will saw the slightly surprised expression on Hades' face, he became interested. "She told me that you were expecting me. Judging from your face, you clearly weren't."

"Why would Calypso send me a random soul without informing me? And a pure soul, free of any true sin at that?"

Slowly but surely, Will was catching on to Calypso's intentions. "Obviously to keep me from interfering with her plans and to keep you preoccupied. Calypso intends to regain her full power and leave all those who stand a chance against her either dead or incapable of doing anything. She killed me and has condemned my family to a lifetime of servitude under Cheng Lo. She also intends to kill Jack Sparrow if a conversation I had with her is any indication."

Hades' eyes narrowed in suspicion at Will. "Did you just say that Calypso intends to kill Jack Sparrow?"

"Yes. Why?"

Hades suddenly slammed his left hand down upon the armrest of his chair, which caused the area around them to erupt in violent trembles, with bits and pieces of rock falling down to the ground from far above. Once the trembling had subsided, Hades took a deep breath and spoke calmly.

"We had a mutual understanding concerning the fate of Jack Sparrow, but apparently Calypso has decided to go back on our agreement. You're absolutely certain of this?"

"Of course. Why would I lie to the Lord of the Underworld?"

Hades stood up and began to pace back and forth while he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It seems I underestimated my sister's ability to double-cross. If she succeeds in regaining her power and attempts to control the seven seas again, it could compromise my own plan."

Will's mind was already working on an avenue of escape from his current situation. "It's exceedingly obvious that Calypso has grown beyond your control. Your attempts to contain her will ultimately fail. She's defied your trust to accomplish her own ends. You cannot stop her….but I can."

Hades looked at Will in a condescending manner. "How could a mere mortal possibly hope to kill a Goddess?"

"Simple. It's because I'm meant to," said Will casually.

Hades sat back down in his chair. By now, any interest he had in this newly arrived soul had peaked to its highest point. "So you're the Angel Assassin? The soul destined to kill my sister?" After Will silently nodded his head in response, Hades pressed on. "What you're suggesting is that I willingly condone Calypso's death in order to ensure that she doesn't interfere with my plans any further."

Will smirked. "Given your reputation, I'd assume you would agree to this proposition."

Hades regarded Will's hardened and determined eyes for the longest of moments before he finally spoke again. It was the penultimate question at the moment. "And if you fail?"

"I won't." Will uttered those words without any indication of self-doubt.

"But if you do?" Hades persisted.

Will had already both anticipated the question and determined the answer. "Then you can do whatever you want with my soul. It'll be yours for eternity."

Hades smiled, and when he did, there seemed to be a low and sinister grumble that reverberated off the Underworld walls. "Tempting…but expected. However, I shall accept that proposal but I'm afraid I'll need to expect even more fair value in return. So, since I am granting you a reprieve from death, I think it only appropriate that you promise to uphold my end of this bargain."

"That end being?"

"You must give me your word that you will carry out a favor for me."

"As long as it's kept within the realm of my abilities."

"Oh, trust me, it is. For the time being, I shall keep the specifics of it to myself, but when the time comes for you to carry it out, you'll know what to do."

"Very well," said Will. "So now that we've reached an agreement, what say you return me to the land of the living so that I can kill Calypso once and for all?"

Hades stood up, which caused the chair he had been sitting in to vanish into thin air with a gust of black smoke. "A man of action, I see. I must admit, I admire that. But so be it; in a few moments, you'll wake back up among those you love with the knowledge that you will now be indebted to the one person whom you don't wish to cross. However, you have the window of one hour to kill Calypso. If you fail in your attempt…well, you know what'll happen." Hades raised his right hand, with his thumb and index finger poised to snap. "Have fun."

And with a snap of Hades' fingers, Will's surroundings evaporated into shapeless wisps of black smoke until the blackness enveloped Will's consciousness.

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Will's cold, still and pale body lay on a small wooden bench in a private cabin aboard Andrew's ship, and Elizabeth kneeled beside it, tears still streaming from her eyes. By now, Elizabeth's face was so moist from her crying, it looked as if her face had been submerged in a bucket of water. She was looking at the blank wall above Will's body, giving the impression that maybe if she didn't stare at Will for a certain amount of time, he would come back to life. But there was a blank expression etched into Elizabeth's eyes that also suggested that she had come to terms with the fact that her husband was dead and was oblivious to everything else around her.

Behind Elizabeth stood Jack, who was at a loss for words. All he was able to say was, "Elizabeth…we have to go. We've arrived at Cheng Lo's fortress."

Elizabeth heard the words, but it took her a few extra seconds to respond. "I'm not going, Jack. I can't run the risk of having Michael lose both his parents in the same day."

Jack glanced briefly at Will's body and winced. "Look, what happened to William was something neither of us could prevent, no matter how hard we try to convince ourselves that we could. But if you help us here, we can ensure that Will's death will not have been in vain."

Elizabeth glanced up toward the ceiling. "Why? Why is that we tell ourselves that we can justify death with more of it? You know, all these years I've spent aboard the Pearl, I've come to realize that this way of life never ends well for those who live it. And look; Will had to pay the price. It should have been me."

"You don't mean that. Do you honestly think it would be any easier on your son if you were the one who got killed?" Jack let these words sink in. "I won't even pretend to understand your pain because I've never been in your position. All I'm asking is that you help finish this, and then I'll take you and Michael home."

Elizabeth gingerly traced her index finger down Will's cheek before standing up and facing Jack. "Alright. I'll help you this one last time, Jack. But leave Calypso to me…and after this is finished, we're done with each other. Permanently." Elizabeth pushed a stray strand of hair away from her face and behind her ear. "Sooner or later, Jack, anyone who gets close to you either ends up dead or hurt. In this case, it's both. And I can't allow myself any more pain."

"Alright, then," Jack said after Elizabeth's words took full effect. "Once this is over, I'll take you and Michael home and the two of you will never see me again."

"I just can't do this anymore, Jack."

Jack arched one of his eyebrows. "I can't say I wasn't expecting that."

And with that, he and Elizabeth walked out of the cabin and onto the main deck of The Black Pearl.

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The Black Pearl was indeed moored just offshore the landmass that housed Cheng Lo's pirate prison. Currently, its position was being monitored through a spyglass cradled in the hands of Cheng Lo himself. The Pirate Lord was flanked by two of his men, each of whom were also staring out at the ship. Cheng Lo lowered the spyglass.

"It appears as if Mrs. Turner has acquired the Eye," he said.

"How can you be certain?" asked one of his henchmen.

Cheng Lo raised the spyglass again and focused in on Elizabeth specifically. In her hands, he spotted a medium-sized object wrapped in a dirty white cloth. She was also conversing determinedly with Jack Sparrow. "There's something in her hands. And if all the descriptions of the Hurricane's Eye are accurate, that could be it. We can't afford to pass up this opportunity."

"And what do you intend to do with the Turner woman and Sparrow?"

"I'm a man of my word. I struck a bargain with Turner and I will uphold my end. If she has indeed recovered the Hurricane's Eye, Elizabeth Turner has done a great thing. But Sparrow, on the other hand, his usefulness has run its course." Cheng Lo retracted the spyglass and handed it to one of his crew members. "Be at the front gate to greet our guests. Then bring them in here to complete the deal."

Without another word, Cheng Lo's men carried out their orders.

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Jack, Elizabeth and the four new crew members stepped foot on the prison island. The sky was bright blue, tinged with puffy white clouds, one of which was closing in fast on the sun. Jack and Elizabeth led the small group. Tucked underneath Elizabeth's left arm was an object Jack had chosen as a temporary replacement for the Hurricane's Eye that was meant to string along Cheng Lo. Jack knew that Calypso's logical next move would be to go after Cheng Lo directly, so Jack had figured that they could kill two birds with one stone by being there when Calypso came for Cheng Lo.

By then, the group had approached the front gate of the prison and Cheng Lo's men were slowly walking towards them. Jack leaned in close to Elizabeth.

"Whatever happens, don't let them see what's underneath that cloth," he whispered into her ear. Elizabeth's response was her tightening her grip on what was underneath the cloth and her eyes narrowing in steely determination.

Seconds later, they were in front of Cheng Lo's henchmen. "Is that the Eye?" the more burly of the men said, eyeing the item in Elizabeth's hand.

"Yes," replied Jack, "and we wish to see Cheng Lo."

"And Cheng Lo wishes to see you. Once he has the Eye, he will fulfill the promise he made to Mrs. Turner."

"You can tell Cheng Lo that he needn't be concerned about that anymore."

"Why?"

Elizabeth's face took on a pained expression at the same time her lower lip started to quiver. Jack promptly stepped in for her. "That's really none of your business, is it? So why don't we just do what we came here to do, savvy?"

Cheng Lo's men nodded their heads in acquiescence and turned around to walk inside the prison. Jack hesitated a moment and looked at Elizabeth with concern. She merely wiped away a stray tear before clearing her throat and looking back.

"Let's go," she said before leading the way into the fortress. Jack stared after her for a few more moments before he and the others followed behind.

Meanwhile, at that very same moment, Calypso materialized out of thin air along with a contingent of her crew deep inside the bowels of the prison. Around her neck and tucked into her bosom was the real Hurricane's Eye.

She turned to her men, a sadistic expression smeared across her face. "Let's have some fun."

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Will woke with a jolt.

He quickly took in his surroundings and was able to deduce that he was back aboard Jack's ship. He sat up, but immediately felt dizzy once he did. Will clasped his head in his hands briefly, doing his best to regain himself. He then looked down at his chest where Calypso's sword had penetrated hius flesh. There was indeed a scar there, but curiously, it didn't appear as bloody and fresh as it should have been.

However, Will didn't have time to dwell on anything except killing Calypso. Hurriedly, he reached into one of the pockets of his black overcoat and pulled out the pocket watch he kept on his person at all times. After quickly noting the time, 2:24, he stuffed the watch back into his coat and made a mental note of it.

He had precisely one hour to kill Calypso, otherwise he would be doomed to damnation in the Underworld.

There wasn't a second to waste. Will got up, made sure he was armed, then raced off the ship and onto land.