Half an hour more staring out at the ocean and I begin to grow cold. I go back to my cabin and lay on my bed, absorbed in my thoughts. The cabin is completely dark. No light shines through the porthole. The ship rocks back and forth . . . back and forth . . .

I'm on the Black Pearl. It's wood as black as the night. The deck is deserted. The ship suddenly tilts and something green rolls towards me. I bend down slowly and pick it up. I feel as though I'm moving through quicksand. The green orb is an apple. A chunk is missing out of it. Someone has taken a bite. I look up. Deathly eyes. Bones, matted hair, a monkey on his shoulder.

"Welcome to Hell," Barbossa spits.

Smack!

I hit my head on the bunk above me.

"Ow," I say, rubbing my forehead in pain. It's covered in sweat. I sit up and sigh. The cabin looks the same as it had before. I get up and look out the porthole. We are no longer moving. I see a large, black ship in the distance. It floats motionless upon the water.

I have returned to Isla de Muerta.

I hear movement up on deck and I immediately leave the cabin to go investigate. I intend to be on the first rowboat to Isla de Muerta. I rush up the stairs and onto the deck. Officers are everywhere, cleaning weapons and handing eachother guns. Two soldiers approach me as I reach out to grab my own rifle.

"Sorry, miss," one of the officers says. "The commodore advises that you stay here for your own safety. He can't risk his future wife getting kidnapped again by the pirates."

"I am well aware of the risk. Now please, let me through."

The two soldiers grab my arms.

"Stop!" I exclaim. "Let go! I have to speak to Commodore." I try to slip out of their grasp, but they hold on tightly.

"The commodore ordered that you be locked in his office during the battle," one of the soldiers says as I struggle desperately.

I knew I couldn't entirely trust Sparrow.

"He doesn't know what he's up against! I've seen them! I've fought them!"

"Sorry, but it's for your own safety." They push me towards the glass doors of Commodore's office.

"I don't care what the commodore ordered! I have to tell him! The pirates! They can't be killed!"

The officers throw me inside the office. The lieutenant approaches me with a smirk.

"Don't worry, miss, he's already informed of that. A little mermaid flopped up on deck and told him the whole story," he says and shuts the glass doors with a slam. I hear a resounding click.

"This is Jack Sparrow's doing!" I yell after him. That filthy, lying, scheming, pirate.

I turn around. Sparrow doesn't want me in the middle of the battle, but I intend to save Will. After Will left Sparrow behind at Isla de Muerta, I'm guessing Sparrow isn't feeling very compassionate towards Will. All Sparrow cares about is getting the Pearl back, and that can in no way guarantee Will's life.

I've escape a deserted island. I can escape a locked cabin. I will save Will.

Assuming we're not already too late.

I look around Commodore's office for some means of escape. I run out to the balcony in the back. To my left is a rowboat that was left hanging off the side of the ship, unused. Taking a sconce off the wall of the cabin, I run back outside and manage to pull the pulleys towards me, slowly releasing the rowboat into the water. It falls in with a splash and I look at the glass doors behind me. There is no movement, not even from the guard who was posted to watch over me.

I look back around the cabin and begin pulling down the curtains off the windows. I manage to tie the curtains together and secure it to the railing of the balcony.

"Elizabeth?" A knock sounds on the glass doors. It's my father.

"I just want you to know I, uh, I believe you made a very good decision today."

Not now Father.

"Couldn't be more proud of you."

I finishing tying the rope of curtains to the balcony and don't stay a second longer to hear my Father's speech. I lower myself down the rope carefully. I hope that it's strong enough. I climb as quickly and as calmly as I can until I am safely inside the boat. I take hold of the oars and then row through the dark water away from the Dauntless.

What to do . . what to do. Really, Elizabeth. You should have thought about this before you escaped.

If I go to save Will I'm not sure I'll be anything but another weapon used against him. I don't know how to fight properly. If I go directly to Will, he might just die trying to protect me. Not to mention the entire skeleton crew will be in that cave.

No. I cannot do this alone. I must enlist help elsewhere.

I reach the side of the Black Pearl and stop my boat beside it. I take a rope from the rowboat and tie it to the dark ship. I climb up the side quietly, all the while listening for sounds coming from the Pearl. There is not a sound to be heard except the slopping of the ocean against the boats. However silent it may be, I know there are pirates in there. Barbossa would not be so foolish as to leave it completely unguarded and unprotected, even when they were going to perform the ritual that would lift the curse.

I climb up to a cannon hole and hear voices coming from inside. I peer into the ship and spot two pirates sitting at a table of food lit with candles. I avoid being seen and drop onto the deck. It looks ghostly and deserted, though it's the exact same deck I was on just a few days ago.

My breathing becomes erratic . . . I feel as if I'm being watched.

Screech!

Barbossa's monkey drops down from a rope. It's boney and skinless in the moonlight. I'm startled at first, but then my face hardens.

Not this time.

The monkey falters in its screeching. I swing my hand as hard as I can and hit the creature square in the face. It goes flying overboard. I look over the side to see it hit a cannon, making a sharp, metallic sound. To my horror, two pirates stick their heads out of the cannon hole to watch the monkey fall into the water. They turn to look up at me.

Oh no.

I run across the deck and down the stairs, hiding behind them just as the two pirates rush up the stairs to find me. Once they are out of sight, I run down to the lowest level of the ship: The brig. I pass a ring of keys hanging on a nail on the wall, and then I spot the Interceptor's crew all in one cell.

"Miss Elizabeth!" Mr. Gibbs says.

The crew jumps in silent happiness. I take the ring of keys and find one that fits the lock, unlocking the cell. The crew comes pouring out and then they run up the stairs. I'm right behind them.

"There are still pirates on deck, we need to find a way to—" I start to explain, but I come on deck just as the Interceptor's crew shoves a hanging rowboat right into the two pirates, knocking them overboard.

"Haaaaah!" The crew rushes forward in triumph.

I approach the rowboat.

"All of you with me!" I order. "Will is in that cave and we must save him. Ready . . and . . heave!"

The rowboat rocks feebly. I turn around slowly. The crew stands motionless behind me.

"Please, I need your help. Come on!"

The parrot on one of the men's shoulder squawks.

"Any port in a storm."

"Cotton's right," Gibbs says. "We've got the Pearl."

"What about Jack? Are you just gonna leave him?"

"Jack owes us a ship," says the pirate half as tall as me.

"And there's the code to consider," Gibbs adds.

"The code?" I repeat. "You're pirates! Hang the code, and hang the rules! They're more like guidelines anyway."

None of them move.

Fine. If they won't help me I'll do it myself.

They watch, motionless, as I lower myself down into the rowboat I arrived in. I curse them as I row away. My bandaged hand stings from constant rowing.

I rescued them so we could save Will. Now they're stealing the Pearl. I should have never expected a group of pirates to go and save someone they didn't care about and not even someone they did. Poor Jack.

I run aground on rock, finally reaching the mouth of the cave. I set the oars down, climb out of the rowboat, and run into the cave. Soon piles of gold and jewels begin to appear. I step through the water, soaking my trousers, and then climb up a mountain of gold.

I need a weapon. Beside me, I spot a large, gold-plated pipe. I take it and rush forward. The sight I see is chaotic.

Jack is battling Barbossa while the rest of the pirates fight . . .

Will! My heart leaps.. He's still alive. But he's on the ground, knocked down by a pirate with a long brown beard.

"I'm gonna teach you the meaning of pain," the pirate growls.

"You like pain?" I shout, and I slam the golden pipe across his face. "Try wearing a corset."

I offer the pipe to Will, who takes it and helps himself up. He looks at me, his brown eyes gleaming. The corners of my mouth twitch into a smile.

I look down to see Jack and Barbossa down below, fighting in the water. Moonlight streams from apertures in the top, illuminating parts of the cave. As Jack and Barbossa pass through them, I see not one skeleton, but two.

"Whose side is Jack on?" I snap.

"At the moment?" Will replies.

An image of skeleton Barbossa flits through my mind, the one from my dream. I am scared, but I know it's time to forget my fear.

Forgetting about both Jack and my dream, I run back to the pirates Will has been fighting, hitting one in the head with the golden pipe. His neck snaps back and falls to the ground. I resist wincing and turn to see a pirate approaching Will, who has no sword. I throw the pipe to him. He catches it just in time to shove his attacker away from him. I hide behind Will and kick another pirate away, taking hold of the pipe. Together we thrust it into the pirate's center, which then goes through two more of them. The three pirates shriek as we run around to face them. They can't seem to get themselves free of the pipe. A thick fume fills my nostrils. Smoke. I look down to see Will picking up an ignited bomb that one of the pirates dropped. Will puts it in between the ribs of the pirate in the middle and together we push them out of the light. They returns to flesh and blood, no longer skeletons.

"No fair," one of them whimpers. I turn around smile in triumph at Will, only to see that he is no longer by my side. He's running away! Why . . . ?

All of a sudden I understand. I am barely out of range when the pirates blow up. I feel a small, sickening feeling as bones and fleshy body parts drop into the water around me. I jump onto a rock across the water and freeze. Barbossa is pointing his long golden gun right at me. I barely breathe.

A shot rings out and I flinch. The sound rings throughout the cave. However, I feel no pain. Barbossa's expression turns confused. His golden gun remains poised and loaded.

Jack stands behind Barbossa, his one-shot pistol smoking.

"Ten years you carry that pistol, and now you waste your shot," Barbossa sneers.

"He didn't waste it," Will's voice resonates. He stands over the stone chest of gold pieces, a bloodied hand holding out two gold medallions. He opens his hand and the gold falls into the chest.