"Secure the mast lines!" a voice yelled, followed by a chorus of "Aye, captain!" from all around. The speaker turned away from the ocean and faced his crew. He had chocolate brown eyes, tangled brown hair, and a scar on his chest. The man wore a beige shirt with the first two buttons undone, a pair of brown breeches, and tall, laced boots. He had a bandana over his hair, either in an attempt to tame it or to show his status as captain. His name? William Turner. Not William Turner as in Bootstrap Bill, but William as in the captain of the Flying Dutchman. He looked at his crew and thought about how long it had been since he had seen a crew as strong. They fought hard and admired their captain. Nobody questioned his authority, and he treated them kindly in return. The whip that had once been used on him had been burned long ago and the only punishment was the occasional day without rum if a man left his post or let the ropes fall. He was fair and never lied unless it was best if people didn't know the truth. He had always been faithful to his wife Elizabeth, his true love, and never cheated on her. Although they only met once every ten years, they made the most of it. His son, William Turner III, worshipped him. Will had it all. That is, until a mysterious man came to Port Royal.
Elizabeth and Will III were waiting on the shore on the eve of William's return. Elizabeth was almost 55, her son almost 30. His fiance Scarlett was by his side as they waited to see the Dutchman come to shore. Elizabeth lay back with her curly blonde hair spread in the sand as she thought of all of the times her and her husband had spent on this very beach. This is where they conceived their son, met once every ten years, and wept as sunset approached. This is where Will literally gave her his heart in the Dead Man's Chest. She wore the key on a chain around her neck as she had once done with his pirate medallion.
She sat up suddenly and gasped.
"William! Scarlett!" she exclaimed as she pointed at the shore. A large ship was approaching in the distance. Will pulled out a large bottle of rum, ready to greet his father upon his arrival.
"This is it," he said. "Scarlett, you finally get to meet my namesake."
"I can't wait," she said eagerly, her eyes still focused on the ship in the distance.
At first, the ship looked like the Dutchman, with its large, ripped sails. As it got closer, however, it looked less and less like the famed pirate ship. It was, in fact, a much smaller vessel. Elizabeth stood and backed away. Two men started coming forth in a rowboat, both wearing strange black robes with hoods. When they approached the shore, they went right for Elizabeth, Will, and Scarlett.
Will grabbed his long sword, a gift from his father, and stood in front of his fiance and mother.
"Who are you? What is your purpose here?" he inquired in a bold tone. The strangers said nothing, but pulled out large black blades and stabbed each individual in the shoulder. There were piercing screams from each victim, but nothing more. The strangers put leaves that looked like strange weeds over the wounds, wrapped the bodies in cloaks, and went back to the boat.
"Captain!" a voice yelled. Will snapped back into reality. Once he started thinking about that day when he walked onto shore and saw nothing, he couldn't stop. The one thing that was left of his wife and son was a bottle of rum. Will looked at the man who spoke to him. It was a shy young lad named Joshua.
"Captain, I brought you some rum. I-I thought you might be thirsty from the hot sun. It looked- it looked like you were hallucinating from the heat. Or dehydration…" His voice trailed away as he spoke the last few words. He was too shy to make eye contact with the captain, he simply looked at his dirty feet.
Will's expression softened. The young boy was so sweet, always thinking about others.
"Thank you, Joshua. I needed this," he said. It was the bottle of rum he found on the shore after his son and Elizabeth had been taken. He pulled out the cork and took a swig of rum. Mid-drink he opened his eyes and saw a glimpse of something in the label on the bottle. He looked at the bottle and saw a piece of paper stuffed between the label and the bottle. Upon further inspection, Will discovered that it was a map- a map to the location of his son, his future daughter-in-law, and his wife. He directed his crew to go north, just as the map said. They obeyed. Will was on his way to save his wife.
After days of traveling in one direction, Will reached the place where the next task came. He read the directions on the map, which read "Sunrise and sunset become one and the same, if you speak with care the sea-goddesses' name". He knew what he needed to do.
"Men, we need to tip the boat. We must be upside down," he said to his crew. The men ran back and forth, releasing the cannons to add extra weight. As the boat was about to tip, Will looked at the directions again.
"Calypso! Please, direct me to my wife and child!" he yelled desperately. At that, the boat fell. He gripped the rail tightly and felt a lump in his throat as he recalled the time Elizabeth had been by his side in the same situation. Suddenly, there was a blue flash and the boat was upright again, but in a much narrower body of water. It was a bay, not an open ocean.
Will ran to the front of the vessel and climbed the ropes. He look out at the scenery below. There were houses and people like he would have seen in the small villages back home. They were cozy houses, built for one or two people. It was bright, clean, and clear. The trees grew tall, the grass was cut short, and the paths were carefully lined with stones. He noticed, however, one strange detail- all of the people had pointed ears. He wondered if it were some kind of mutation, or perhaps a curse like the one previously on Davy Jones.
The crew docked the boat as Will stood, watching the mutant creatures in awe. Then his eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. Standing on the shore, looking right at him, was a man. A man with long, blond hair and pointy ears. A man that looked exactly like him.
