A.N. Disclaimer...getting tired of these things now..who own nothing to do with Pirates of the Caribbean...
A Pirate's Life: New Adventures
Chapter 6: The Point of No Return
After a few more days of largely uneventful sailing the four navy and pirates ships were approaching a huge cliff face made of dark rock that was shrouded in mist. The beautiful blue sea of the Caribbean made way for dark, perilous waters with fallen ships and floating drift wood.
No one would think to look at it twice, it was misty and dull, but the most hid a magical secret. And it was only at Jack's insistence that the navy captain had looked more closely.
The eerie dripping of the water from the rotting carcasses of the dying ships echoed in the still silence almost as though they were crying. The water stopped and lapped at the base of the tall , dark cliff face, and leading up to it there were small patches of scorched black land in the shallows.
Towards the left in the cliffs was a large jagged cave, large enough for a galleon ship or four to sail through. But as Atkinson was about to give the order, Jack stopped him.
"Don' ge' too close, they protect their island with sea monsters, ma'e," Jack said and the ships were soon moored a safe distance away from the cliffs.
"Where is this island, Mr Sparrow?" Atkinson asked him as he stared up at the misty cliffs.
"Through tha' cave, then we 'ave ter swim," Jack answered. "They won' think much o' one little boat floatin' along, should be safe for us ter row one in."
"Why would we need to do that?"
"They're fish people wif sea monsters, 'ow else d'er think we're gonna get to 'em?" Jack replied sarcastically as he began securing his belts and weapons. He also removed his much loved hat and coat, placing them carefully on the rail of the ship.
"I don't see the French fleet, but they could arrive at any time. Mr Daniels, I leave you in charge of the ship while I'm gone, should the French arrive, you know what to do," Atkinson told his second mate who nodded.
"But mother, I want to see the mermaids!" young Will shouted at his mother who was kneeling in front of him.
"No, I'm sorry Will, but it's too dangerous for you..." Elizabeth said sternly.
"That means it's too dangerous for you, too!" He replied sadly.
"Kid's got yer there, miss Elizabeth," Gibbs muttered. Taking a drink from his flask for courage asmen from Atkinson's crew began preparing a long boat.
"Please, mother!" Will begged, "Please, please, please, please..."
"Aww...let 'im come," Anamaria said, "If the French turn up it ain't gone be much safer out 'ere. 'Least if he comes you'll be able ter protet the lad," she finished as he started strapping her sword in her belt.
Jack, Gibbs, Anamaria, Elizabeth and young Will climbed into the boat, with Atkinson, his first mate Rogers, the young Edwards, a hardened sailor called Thompson, Captain Herron and his first mate Oliver following them.
In the cave itself the walls were jagged and uneven as was the top of the rock, and there were lifeless skeletons lying scattered in the shallow water. Once they came further into the cave it opened out to make a wide and tall clearing with a deeper pool of water taking up the length and breadth of the space.
They carefully exited the boat and stepped onto the blackened land which ended at the waters edge. Without warning Jack walked forwards and dove expertly into the water, of course he'd neglected to tell the others that to be taken to the mermaids one needed to be drowning...or at least they had to be in danger of drowning. They'd never have agreeed to it, and then he'd get nothing out of the venture...and that would never do...
He swam deeper and deeper, and turned back to see the others following him, so he swam on.
Jack could have sworn he heard a quiet roaring and it looked like the shadows were moving. Something was ahead of him and it was coming closer...there were two enormous yellow eyes with angry black pupils staring back at him in the shadows.
He stared back...and suddenly he felt something hit his face but because of the darkness he couldn't see what it was. He felt tentacles wrap round his ankles, but by now his lungs were burning in protest and he suddenly felt light headed from the pressure building up.
Soon he stopped to breathe, and his whole body screamed in protest...he felt the tentalces loosen round his limbs...then he felt long, flowing hair through his fingers, and felt soft hands pulling him forwards...and then he felt nothing...
When Jack opened his eyes he saw what appeared to be a pale, dark eyed angel hovering over him. She had long, brown hair, with single wet strands framing her circular face. Her eyes were mesmerising blue orbs that stared into his own, captivating him.
She was humming a slow, sad tune quietly and it brought him from the lingering depths of unconsciousness. His head ached painfully, so he went to raise his hand to it but she stopped him.
"Shhh..." she sighed and put her own pale, wet hand on his tanned, bejewelled one. A second later she raised her other hand to her face and stopped a small tear from falling, then she caught the tear and dropped it onto the cut on his face.
The bleeding cut on the right side slowly healed and he found that he could think straight now despite her song.
"My father said you were a strange man, captain Sparrow, he never said you were quite so beautiful," she said in a soft, melodic voice.
"I thought mermaids were supposed to be scary and cruel," young Will said, efficiently breaking the mermaids' concentration on the man before her.
"Not all of us are so," she answered.
The other 10 men and women lingered on the shore while Jack was still half in the water, in the centre of the pool lying against a rock covered with moss and algae. One of three mermaids was lying beside him with her beautiful scaled, purple tail in the water. She propped herself up on her elbow and hovered over him with a smile.
"You are lucky we found you, for few come to our shores in pursuit of us as you do," the mermaid said, "I apologise for Rahad, he believed you a threat. You managed to deceive him by brining only a single boat; that was was clever of you to bring only one." she smiled, "I am Nerissa, and these are my sisters, Maris and Assyria, we are the daughters of King Tonra."
Then her sisters swam across to him, one taking his left side and the other floating in front of him. He tried to sit up to look for the source of the young voice he swore he could recognise, but was pushed gently back down.
"Your companions are safe, captain," the second mermaid; Maris said, "As are you. We dare not harm a former king of our people, our father forbids it." She carefully wiped the smudged kohl from round his eyes and face with her fingers and smiled. "My sister was right, you are a beautiful man," she smiled.
The third mermaid; Assyria caressed his right arm and gently touched the raised brand on his forearm. "Alas, there are some wounds we cannot heal," she told him.
"Mother, what are they doing to the captain? Why do they like him so much?" Will whispered to his mother, but his voice carried in the hollow cave making it easy to hear.
Jack tried to speak but found that his chest throbbed painfully, and his heart beat fast making him breath quickly and deeply.
Atkinson and his men were recovering from the experience themselves and were sitting against the wall of the cave. He glanced around their new surroundings to find it an exact parallel of the dark cave they had left, this was was light and open instead of dark and dank.
There was no ceiling or roof of any kind and the moon shone silver light into the cave, making the silvery walls sparkle. Atkinson saw the man, boy and women of Jack's crew sitting close together a little way away from his own men. He stared transfixed at the beautiful mermaids that treated Sparrow with such reverence and kindness.
He'd never seen mermaids act this way...he'd seen them before; once as a boy aboard a merchant ship that had been lucky to survive the encounter. They had been so aggressive...so violent and murderous. Where these mermaids a different breed? Like most experienced sailors he respected the creates and didn't want to fall afoul of them...but this reward had been too much to turn away.
However this was not something he had ever expected. And had one of them just called Sparrow a former king?
"I'm sure our father would be most interested in meeting you again," Nerissa said to Jack, "We shall take you to him."
"But first you must get up, captain Sparrow," Assyria said softly as the pirate tried and failed to sit up by himself. "Be calm, you are well," she added as she and her sisters helped him to sit up slowly.
Jack's clothes were soaked to the skin as was to be expected and his dreadlocks hung limply against his chest. He soon found himself coughing and hacking violently as he rolled over and clutched at the rock with rigid hands. The soothing hands of the mermaids on his shoulders and back helped him to quickly overcome his affliction.
And with their help he was able to stand up and walk through the shallow water, making his way over to the others.
"Jack, are you alright?" Elizabeth asked walking up to him. When he nodded in reply she quickly and harshly slapped his face, the sound echoed in the silence.
"Wo' was 'at for?" Jack shouted while keeping his hand on his cheek.
"For nearly drowning me and my son!" she answered angrily.
"Yer didn't drown though, did yer?" Jack replied but Elizabeth didn't answer as they walked out of the cavern.
The mermaids swam slowly in the water and along the sides of a long, wide path of pale, white rock. On either side there were columns made of the same rock with boulders of all sizes nested in them with water dripping from the rock itself.
The far walls were carved intermittently with idealised Romanesque images of men, women and creatures. Some had water flowing from them, like fountains and it ran calmly down the walls and onto the pathway, down into the two streams on either side of it.
The group of pirates and navy men walked slowly down the lengthy path where, on either side mermaids lounged the rocks combing their long hair or humming quietly. They eyed their guests hungrily with wide eyes and pale faces.
Atkinson could hear their beautiful song and he felt himself drawn to it, until he felt Sparrow lay a heavy hand on his shoulder and pull him back from his wanderings. He saw the pirate shot a dark look at the mermaids and the humming stopped. The navy captain couldn't understand why the pirate could be unaffected by that call, that beautiful music. Was he really so different from others?
"Is that any way to treat such brave guests?" a deep, enchanting voice of a man asked from the end of the pathway.
The merman was sitting regally against the rocks, he was slightly built with a purple tail with beautiful, shining scales. He had long black hair that was slightly bradded with gold trim and his dark eyes were rimmed with black. In his hand he grasped a golden trident and around his neck he wore a blue crystal on a black cord.
Atkinson assumed that this was the mermaids' father; king Tonra...he certainly looked more important than any other they'd passed, and he was the only merman they'd seen as well. He carried the trident. The navy captain found himself staring at the artefact that he'd heard so much about and wondered what he should do.
Should he attempt to take it back to his employer? Or should he use it for himself? With it he would be able to control the seas and rule anything and everyone in the world. But if it truly had such immense power then why didn't the Merfolk use it to rule as many people would? Atkinson couldn't understand it, but he intended on finding out.
"I never thought to see you again, Jack Sparrow," the merman said, tilting his head slightly and frowning. "You are...taller than I remember...and you are older than our last meeting."
"Well, unfortunately, yer royal magestic-ness, we 'homines' (*1) do tend to age with the years," Jack replied, not mentioning his on-going quest for immortality.
"A most unfortunate trait," answered the merman. "But why did you risk returning here again, captain?"
"A most unfortunate reason, actually; as we speak, a heavily armed fleet of the French variety is on its..."
"I'll handle this, Sparrow," captain Atkinson stepped forward and interrupted what would most likely have been one of Jack's long winded speeches.
Jack tapped the man on the shoulder and in his uneven way he moved to stand in front of Atkinson. "I really don' think tha's the best idea, ma'e, maybe I should..." he said.
"Why should I allow any more of your interference, Mr Sparrow?" the captain asked, "When last I looked, you were commissioned to lead me to the isle, and you have done so. Therefore your task is done," he said sternly. It had been his plan to simply shot the pirate and his crew dead, but since their little escapade in the water, his pistols were useless.
Oh, yes, it had all worked wonderfully in Sparrow's favour so far; the man seemed to have uncanny luck on his side. And with those mermaids so...friendly...with the pirate, it could be a risky move to attempt any harm on Sparrow's person here. So it would have to wait.
"And what does any of this have to do with you...Mr..." the king directed at Atkinson.
"Captain Atkinson, your majesty," the man said.
"Why did you seek us out?" asked the merman.
"I..." but Atkinson never could finish what would no doubt have been a tremendous lie.
As suddenly a mermaid emerged from the water beside the king, she appeared concerned and perhaps a little excited. "My king...Rahab has sighted a fleet heading towards the cave," she said. (*2)
"The French?" Atkinson questioned and Jack shrugged like he couldn't care less.
"Take your sisters, Aquaisis, let us see how strong these French men are," the king told her and she grinned eagerly, swimming away. "As for you, captain Atkinson, don't think me ignorant of your motives, or yours Sparrow." he added looking back at the sailors.
"When 'ave I ever 'ad ulterior motives, ma'e?" Jack asked innocently but the merman only frowned at him. "Well, alrigh', tha' was one time, an' tha' wasn' my faul'..."
"You will be dealt with later, right now my priorities is keeping my Isle safe,"
"Rahab yer new pet?" Jack asked and the mer-king nodded.
"A fleet will pose no threat to him," the king said.
"I wouldn't be too sure," Atkinson replied, "The French came prepared, they would not come unaware of your...sea beasts."
The merman stared at him and he frowned as the walls of the cave began to shake and tremble. Small pebbles fell from the walls and cracks formed on the ground. The mermaids fell from their rocks and into the water away from the falling debris as the king clutched his trident in his hand tightly.
"Nerissa, you and your sisters return these humans to the surface at once, we cannot afford any distraction. Clear these men mean us harm," he told his daughter.
"Oi! Kingy, I'm 'avin' a thought 'ere," Jack said as he walked up to the merman. "If you 'appened to 'ave acquired a certain sword..."
"No, Sparrow," Tonra said before the pirate could speak further.
"So yer do 'ave i'," Jack replied eagerly.
"If I do, then it is of no consequence to you. Now leave," the king told him and vanished into the water with one last look at his daughters.
"Please follow us," Nerissa said to them as she and her sisters lead them out of the room.
In the confusion of running people and fleeing mermaids Jack found the opportune moment and swaggered off at a fast pace into the shadows, headed for a cave that was once full of shining crystals.
(*1) Homines - Latin for 'human beings' or 'men.'
(*2) In Jewish folklore, Rahab is a mythical sea monster, I just thought it was a cool name for my sea monster!
A.N. I really liked how the mermaid scene turned out. In my world not all mermaids are vicious killers, seductresses yes, killers no. Some are, but not all. Cool huh?