Fic: The War Within

Rating: M
Characters: Elizabeth/Jack Elizabeth/Will
Chapter Title: Mastery of the Sea
Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean. Disney does, no money being made off this.
Summary: Captain Elizabeth Swann, Pirate Lord and King. Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirate Lord, lecherous pirate, son of the Keeper of the Code. What will happen on the eve of battle. JE. Reviews welcome.

Author note: Please note that the previous chapter (Chapter 6 – One Cannot Live with Inconsistency) was incorrectly put up i.e. wrong version uploaded and was missing a great deal of content. Final version has been put up instead. If you read it when it was first put up, I strongly advise you to re-read it as it is radically different. As always, reviews are always welcomed and encouraged.

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Chapter seven

Barbossa sat in the Captain's Cabin, fingering the items in the collected hat. Pieces of Eight he scoffed. Master Gibbs had the right of it. 'Pieces of whatever we had on hand' was more like it. Nonetheless these pieces were the key to restoring his own fate, his own destiny. He no longer had to rely on anyone; he was back from the dead. He – Hector Barbossa – he was a Pirate Lord and he had never passed on his piece of eight. This was why Tia Dalma brought him back. That and she knew that they would need him when Jack went to the locker. How she knew that, he never thought to ask.

Jack. That conniving little whelp. He never thought he'd see the day when Jack would double nay triple cross him, Hector Barbossa. He surmised that he had it coming. After all he had mutinied against the lad.

His mind spoke to him. '- Aye but that was when he was but just a lad. The lad grew up and was not so forgiving."

Hector frowned. '- Aye true but he were still innocent and believed that people could be trusted.'

His mind scoffed at him. '- You think so? I think now. His love of the sea was what kept him going all those years. He had never a lady love that he lost his heart to. He had The Black Pearl and… Vengence.'

Hector scowled '- Firstly, I had the Pearl. Secondly, Jack Sparrow should have died when I left him on that ruddy island. Thirdly, what am I doing arguing with my own self? Lord save us, I'm turning into Jack Sparrow.'

Barbossa pushed aside his thoughts in disgust. Jack Sparrow was not worth wasting his thoughts on.

Elizabeth Turner, nay Elizabeth Swann however was another story. She was a delectable piece. He had wanted her from the first time she had opened her delicious little mouth and spouted those words that were better met in a drawing room in a gentleman's house, rather than on the rotting decks of a pirate ship.

'-I am here to negotiate the cessation of hostilities.'

Had she asked it in any other way, he would not have hesitated to have her thrown into his cabin for other more entertaining ideas. But in that moment, he knew that she - she was nobody to be trifled with. Headstrong, pretty and conniving, rather like a pirate he thought in hindsight, Elizabeth Swann could be force to reckon with.

'- I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request - Means "no".'

He cackled to himself, lost in his memories. He was rather proud of his answer at that time, being the proud gentle-pirate that he believed to be.

Hector Barbossa shifted in his seat. Yes, she was a feisty woman. Now she had been voted Pirate King. He needed to get her onside, to get his plan to free Calypso in action. Strong she might be, but she was still biddable and easily led. Hector was almost salivating at the thought of how easy it would be to get Elizabeth to do his bidding once more. He would manipulate her movements and thoughts, much like he did at their initial encounter.

However… Hector suddenly thought back to the Locker. He recalled Jack Sparrow's words on the beach.

"- Why should I sail with any of you? Four of you have tried to kill me in the past... one of you succeeded."

His eyes narrowed in contemplation. So… Miss Swann had turned pirate and turncoat and was the cause of Jack being in the locker. Perhaps she was not as biddable as he had thought. Never to mind. He would come up with another way to succeed with his plans. He was a pirate after all.

He turned his thoughts back to Elizabeth. Hector wondered what caused a bit of a thing like Miss Swann to expunge the world of a thing like Jack Sparrow. He would wager all he had to find out what had transpired prior to Jack's extirpation. What an interesting conundrum this presented. He might have to find out once he was free to pursue his own destiny once more.

More chapters to come. Again, as always, review please. TJ