AN: I'm baaaack...ha ha, I just got back from vacation, so now I can write. Sorry for having to postpone this! But now we are beginning the search for the Fountain!

This particular chapter is dedicated to my best friend, who is always there for me.

As always, enjoy.

NOTE: For the staff and the rock face later on, think about those bridges that can be brought up to let boats under, and then be brought back down to let cars across. It's the same motion, just with a large wooden pole.

I gasped in air as quickly as I could; not only was I extremely tired, but fear was gripping every part of my body, strangling my breath and motions. Ella and I had managed to pick the worst possible spot to rest and talk. While it was hidden from the fight, it was in plain view of Belmont's docking ship, and he was upon us before we had time to react.

Which left me in this situation now.

I felt like the dust of the earth, to quote the Bible. It was now I saw the wisdom in Jack's actions, for now was when I became the path to everyone's death. Belmont knew my connections with everyone here: Ella as a friend, Elizabeth as a friend, Will as the innocent who shouldn't be killed, Barbossa as a part of the puzzle to the treasure, Dawson as the map, and Jack as…well, I wasn't sure if Belmont was aware of it before, but surely he had made the connection now. Jack's eyes told everyone as he looked at me with infinite despair, disappointment, and panic.

I felt rotten, like scum. And I knew we had lost. Whatever advantage we had held before, I had lost it for everyone I held dear.

"I need I count of heads," ordered Belmont. "Jack Sparrow, how about your crew?"

Jack gulped and plastered on an innocent face. "Aye, Commodore, but what of your own men?"

"They are all fully alive and well, thank you. How many are left? Half? Quarter?" Belmont sneered as he surveyed the carpet of bodies strewn across the sand, and I, after seeing it from this perspective, realized just how horrible and bloody the fight had truly been. More people were dead than originally thought, and from the expressions gracing most faces, my opinion was not shared alone.

Jack turned to face the remaining, standing men. After about three minutes, he answered with a sober face, "Between a half to three quarters."

"Good. Men," the Commodore motion with his head, and two men grabbed Jack and forced him roughly to his knees, kicking him in the stomach as well as hitting him over the head with the butt of a rifle. He moaned softly, and I could see him wincing.

I let out a startled scream before Belmont clasped his palm over my mouth. Whispering in my ear, he threatened, "You make any mistake or wrong move, he dies. Understand, Miss Delaney?"

My breath came at uneven intervals as I nodded. Looking at Jack, I tried to make eye contact, tried to show that I was sorry, so sorry, for everything, that I didn't want to lose him, that I was sorry, just sorry…

But he didn't look up. He just stared at the ground, hardly moving, slumped over like a hunchback. His hat had fallen off his head and was laying on the ground; he wasn't bothering to pick it up.

I wanted to cry, scream, yell, tear my heart out, anything to rid me of this pain and guilt. The entire sandy field of people, standing there like dead men, staring vacantly at their captors; all of it was my fault. If only I had stayed on the ship, Belmont wouldn't be able to use me like this, Jack would have a chance of making it out alive…

"Barbossa, your crew?"

Barbossa stood only a few feet away, and was not bothering to hide the loathing looks he sent in my direction. "Most of my crew is here."

"Dawson?"

Silence.

"Dawson!" barked Belmont.

From the crowd emerged three men and Gibbs, who was now supporting a sobbing Elizabeth.

"Well?" asked the Commodore impatiently.

One man stepped forward. "Dawson is…unreachable right now."

"Dead?" prompted Belmont.

"Not…quite." The man looked back at Elizabeth. "Captain William Turner was here. He, um, replaced Davy Jones about nine months ago. As events have transpired…Dawson is now the new captain of the Dutchman."

A collective gasp was heard through the pirates, but not even a muscle twitched on the Commodores face. "Which means?"

The three men looked at each other; clearly the Commodore wasn't aware of the myth (truth), and to explain it would be fruitless. "Dawson is indispensable…permanently. Most of his crew was…annihilated. Only thirty are left."

Jack's face changed into a painful grin, though his eyes never left the ground.

"And this Captain Turner?"

"His crew is…also permanently indispensable. All of them. And he himself is dead."

I was shaking from all the possible miserable emotions ever experienced. Elizabeth had lost her husband. Her life had just been taken away, though she was still living. What this my responsibility as well? Had I caused that? Who was I to know what ripples I had created by coming?

"Very well," mused Belmont. "Everyone here is to stay here, except for Miss Delaney, who is come with me. And Jack Sparrow."

"Commodore?" asked a nearby officer. The look in his eye was less than hopeful, the same type of look one gives when one does not want to do something.

"Exactly as I ordered," Belmont snarled. "They are all criminals. Is this not your job?"

Other officers were looking uneasy as well. "What about trial? Surely some of these…" The officer who had spoken before glanced at Elizabeth and Ella.

Trial? Trial for what? And what was this about criminals?

Then, the obvious floated into my head.

Belmont was going to massacre them. All of them. Everyone here knew too much. And he, against two strong pirate crews, was at too much of a disadvantage. He was going to wipe them out while he held all the aces. I was going to survive because of the map; Jack would stay alive long enough to serve his purpose as leverage, and then most likely we would both die as well.

"No!" I gasped. "You aren't getting the map or the treasure unless everybody comes!"

Belmont twisted me around, smacking my head. "That's a brash comment to make, considering your position."

"Consider your own," I challenged. "Your men don't want to carry out your orders. It's murder, and they know it. They aren't villainous like you. They're good people who honestly want to help others." Belmont grabbed my throat, but I wasn't done talking, and squeezed out the rest in the scratchy voice of someone being choked. "At any rate, their out numbered. The pirates are being cooperative now, but once you leave, all hell will break loose. Do you honestly think the pirates aren't going to fight, even if it means hand to hand combat? Your men are outnumbered two to one easily, and they'll lose. Who are you going to have to come back to? Pirates? You'll be dead as well."

"Not if I have the Fountain of Youth," snarled Belmont. He eyes glowed with red, a crazed, horrible color.

"It's the Fountain of youth, not immortality. It won't make you invincible."

This, of course, was a last ditched attempt at surviving. I was determined to live through this, to make it right, somehow. Everything that had come out of my mouth was hurried speculation mixed in with a great deal of bull.

And it worked.

For the first time, fear entered into the Commodore's expression. True, honest fear. Why, I didn't know. How, I couldn't fathom. But it was there. And it was strong.

He glanced at the men surrounding him, pirates and navy men alike. "Change of plans. We go. Everyone. I want two men on Sparrow, Barbossa, Miss Bronte, Tremaine, Mrs. Turner, and on the captain's respective quarter masters. Everyone else is to keep the remaining crews in check. If anyone steps out of line, I assure you, a bloodbath will commence. Now, the map. Sparrow?"

Jack, after some rough jabs from the soldiers, retrieved the map and handed it to Belmont. I wasn't hardly paying attention though. We were alive, for the moment. But once Belmont had the Fountain, what would keep him from killing us then? Nothing. I needed to think of something, anything, to keep us alive. Everyone alive.

A frustrated snarl ripped from Belmont's mouth. "Latin? Latin? Why on earth…?"

I looked up. "You can't read Latin?"

Belmont glared at me, though from the glare, I made a guess that I was sure wasn't far off the mark. Sure, he had been educated in the classics, but like any average student, probably forgot the material once he no longer needed it. And Latin wasn't an easy subject to remember.

"And you can?" he asked.

"How do you think we got here?"

Belmont stared at me for a moment before shoving the parchment into my hands. "Start translating."

He released me, and I collapsed onto the ground next to Jack. On my hands and knees, I tried to look at his eyes, but he stared at the ground, ignoring my pleading look. I had dropped the map, and as I leaned over to pick it up, I whispered so only he could hear, "I'm going to keep us alive, Jack. You're going to get your fountain. I promise."

Nothing. It was like talking to a statue.

Upon seeing his lack of reaction, lack of recognition, I let out a miserable sob before Belmont hoisted me roughly back up. Pointing a pistol at Jack, he ordered, "Translate. And don't delay."

I looked at the map, studying the large island and the maze within. I hadn't taken much time to look at this side before, and some of the directions were a little confusing. Five minutes later, Belmont clicked the pistol to fire, and I began saying the directions shakily, hoping that they were right.

"Okay, I think--"

"You think?" he snarled. I paled and stepped back as he shoved the pistol into my face. "I don't have time for guesses."

"Leave her alone!" shouted Ella defiantly, struggling against her own two men. She had managed to pull herself right up next to me, and after two well placed kicks to the soldiers, released herself and flanked me on my right. "Don't rush her and she can do it right!"

"Watch your tongue, Miss Bronte," he growled, now pointing the pistol at her.

"Don't hurt her!" I ordered, stepping directly in front of Ella. "And give me another moment, and I'll have this part translated."

Belmont narrowed his eyes, but un-cocked the pistol and pointed it back at Jack.

Ella took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. I looked at her only to see a warm smile and comforting, kind eyes. Eyes that had helped me through every problem during our long friendship. And I knew that, no matter what happened from here on out, no matter if all other people forsook me, if Jack were to never speak to me again, if I were to lead us to our deaths despite everything I could possibly do to prevent otherwise, Ella would stand by me. She would stay. With her, I was not alone, and that though lifted me from my desperation. I was not alone. I had Ella.

I returned the smile and looked back at the Latin. "Okay," I breathed, "we need to walk about…one hundred to the west from…the large circle rock." I looked up and down the shore line. Large circle rock? What this suppose to be a riddle?

Barbossa apparently had been looking as well, because he said, "Over there, to the left. It's by that tall palm tree."

Belmont shoved me forward, and Ella followed behind me, still holding my hand. Only a few paces away was that palm tree, and as I approached it, I saw carved deeply into a huge boulder three circles, one being about five feet in diameter, and the other two inside the first. "Large circle rock," I muttered. "Okay, hundred feet that way."

I began walking west, and the entire group followed. Looking behind, I watched us, moving like a herd of buffalo. If Jack had three quarters left, Barbossa with most, and Belmont with all his men, then there must have been at least three hundred and fifty men following me. I gulped. Ella, sensing my faltering, squeezed my hand again.

"Okay, now we go three hundred feet directly inland," I announced once we had reached our destination. Looking into the trees, I could detect a small opening through the leaves and foliage, one that looked like a path. "Which means we are going directly north. When we stop, we should be at the Rock of Palms. Does anyone have a compass?"

I was given the desired item, and quickly began my trek through the lavish green. Sunlight was blocked so that the dense jungle became almost tunnel-like, with a patch of light every once in a while. Strange bird calls were heard that mixed with the crunching feet of everyone who followed, and the breathing was loud, amplified by the lack of conversation. Fear hung heavy in humid air, along with the sweat and mosquitoes that crawled all over the clothing and skin.

My mind felt numb; numb with fear, numb with hate, numb with sorrow. Behind me, I could sense Jack, but only his presence. He wasn't looking at me, wasn't acknowledging my existence. The hurt and pain was overwhelming at the thought. I had, unintentionally, betrayed him. Hurt him. Trapped him. Sentenced him to his death. It felt like I was drowning in my misery; as if I was in the storm again.

But this time, Ella wasn't disappearing. This time I wasn't alone.

And that's why I kept walking. No matter what came, Ella was there. We were together once again, and though our lives were in peril, I still felt a ray of hope. Of joy. Of comfort. As long as she was with me, I could drag by beaten mind and body through this trial.

We reached the Rock of Palms (a large boulder with stick figure palm trees carved into it). Belmont looked at me expectantly. "Well?"

I shrugged. "It just says enter next to a black mark to the right of the rock. We need to look for the entrance."

Belmont snatched the map out of my hands and glared at it, as if expecting his stare to make the answer jump at him from the parchment. "The mark is not only located to the right of the rock, but on something that looks like a cliff." He shoved the map back at me, making me stumble and fall onto my bottom. "That cliff." His finger pointed toward a small outcrop of rocks with a smooth face. At the base of it was large round rock. That rock was in the same place at the mark on the map.

The Commodore took a clump of my hair and dragged me up and toward the rock, behind me Ella screaming something about letting me go, and dumped me right in front of the rock. "Enter," he hissed.

"Move the rock and I will," I snapped back, struggling to my feet.

Four soldiers approached and with grunts and moans, they rock inched away to reveal a dark, foreboding hole. However, they couldn't keep the rock away, for it was uphill on both sides. There was debate whether the soldiers should stay there until everyone came back, but after careful examination, one of the other soldiers announced that he had found a strange device that looked like it was made to hold the rock. It was a staff of wood that seemed to be connected to the rock face itself, but when two other soldiers pulled it down, a curved metal pole came from the rock face, and a clicking sound was heard as the staff was pulled farther down until it was in a position to stop the rock from falling.

Belmont shoved me forward, placing a torch in my hand. "Forward, Miss Delaney."

I peeked down the hold, and images from Indiana Jones began coming to my mind: people losing limbs, heads, eyes, people melting, people turning into dust. I paused, wondering whether I should voice my fear, but then reasoned that if I wasn't going first, one of my friends would. And I wasn't about to kill anyone else.

So, with a frightened gulp, I stepped into the cave.

Nothing happened.

I looked behind me expectantly, and Ella came forward as well, taking my arm. Whispering into my ear, she said, "Ready for another adventure? Find the buried treasure?" Despite her light tone, I could see the fear in her eyes.

I played along anyway. Looking down at the map I pointed to a large X. "And here I was thinking that X never, ever marks the spot."

She smiled, I smiled, and we walked forward. Following behind us were the rest of the men, soldiers holding torches to light the way.

The tunnel wasn't large, or high. Many of the men had to bend down, and I was crouching a little. One would think that with my face that much closer to the ground I would notice where I was going but…

SPLAT!

Tripping over something, I landed flat on my face. My head began to ring, but mixed in with the ringing was the sound of shouting down the tunnel.

"Finn! Are you okay?"

Though Ella was speaking to me, my mind was focusing more on the yelling.

"It closed!"

"The rock!"

"Push!"

"What happened to the rock?" I gasped.

Belmont picked up my torch, he face twisted into a scared and crazed expression. "The rock is over the opening. We can't get out."

I gaped up at him, and followed where his finger pointed to a line of twine that was strung across the walkway. The reason for my tripping. And probably the reason for the rock falling back into place.

"How…?" Ella leaned down to pulled the twine but nothing happened. Clearly she had come to the same conclusion as Belmont and myself.

"The pole!" I moaned, realization dawning on me. "That clicking sound meant that the pole was being locked into place. When this twine was pulled, it undid the lock, and the pole went flying back into the rock face."

Ella stared at the twine, then back at me. "It wasn't your fault."

She knew my expressions too well, because already I could feel the guilt drowning me again. But at her comment, practical reason came to me as well. Anyone would have tripped on that. It was a booby trap.

"Okay, Belmont, tell your men to watch out for any traps along the tunnel. We need to be careful. This was designed to keep people away from the Fountain."

He grabbed my throat and lifted me against the wall, scratching my back and head. "You best figure out how to get use there then. Or," he pointed his pistol at Jack again, then at Ella.

I dropped to the floor, slightly dizzy and disoriented. I could feel blood trickling down my back, no doubt from the rock I had been rubbed up against, but gritted my teeth and tried to ignore all the pain that was pulsing through me. My cheek was hurting worse than ever, and my side was throbbing so much it was nearly numb. Closter phobia was setting in, but I forced myself to push it away. I could ignore the feeling of being trapped for now.

Ella helped me up, and taking my torch from Belmont, I stared down the musty tunnel warily. "Only one way out now, I suppose."

"At least we won't get lost," mumbled Ella.

I sighed as I trudged on. "Don't bet on it."