A/N: Dedicated to Aquamarine and PirateAngel1286 for their help!
Chapter Five- The Journey to Davy Jones' Locker
Barbossa directed the ship to seas Elizabeth had never seen before; she knew it could no longer be the Caribbean because the temperature was getting colder. Elizabeth hadn't experienced cold like this since she had left England. It was soon snowing and icebergs started to float by.
"Where are you taking us?" she asked Barbossa as she and Will looked for blankets in the supplies for the crew. "To the end of the World", Barbossa replied in a bored tone. "That be why it's called World's End."
"Ask a stupid question", Elizabeth said to Will as the old captain left them to go steer the helm. "I'm going to take a look at the charts", Will replied, wrapping a woolen blanket around her. "You find somewhere to sit and stay warm."
Elizabeth was so cold that she didn't have the energy to argue.
Will sat with Tai Huang, moving the charts around. "Nothing here is set," he said shakily, the cold making his body shake as he tried to decipher the map. "These can't be as accurate as modern charts," he added.
"No," Tai Huang replied, shivering also. "But it leads to more places." Will moved a piece of the chart round till words were formed.
"Over the edge," he read, "Over again." Moving it again he found more words at the bottom of the charts.
"Sunrise sets, flash of green." This confused Will, so he stood and walked over the Barbossa, handing him the charts.
"Do you care to interpret, Captain Barbossa?"
Barbossa looked up from the charts and said, "Ever gazed upon the green flash, Master Gibbs?"
"I reckon I seen my fair share," Gibbs replied with a hint of pride.
"Happens on rare occasion." He turned to Will and explained, "The last glimpse of sunset, a green flash shoots up into the sky. Some go their whole lives without ever seeing it. Some claim to have seen it who ain't. And some say.."
"It signals when a soul comes back to this world from the dead!" interrupted Pintel excitedly. Gibbs glared at the pirate for ruining his moment and Pintel added, "Sorry."
Turning to Will, Barbossa said, "Trust me, young Master Turner. It's not getting to the land of the dead that's the problem. It's getting back." Barbossa handed Will the charts and the younger man walked back over to his stool and looked over them again.
"Look," Elizabeth said suddenly, with awe in her voice. Will looked up at her, not even realizing she had come over. He followed her gaze and saw the ship was travelling towards a narrow ice cave.
He glanced at Barbossa, who appeared happy with their current course. He looked back at Elizabeth who had lowered her blanket but was still rubbing her arms. Reaching out to her, he gently pulled her down to his lap, hoping that together they might be warmer. Elizabeth put part of the blanket around him and looked down at what he was doing with the charts. She knew he hated the fact there was no strict plan; they had decided what they were going to do, but they were still stuck relying completely on Barbossa to get them to World's End.
It went dark as the ship entered into the cave. Elizabeth looked over Will's shoulder as the entrance got smaller and smaller and felt him rub her leg. Gibbs and Barbossa lit some lanterns and despite the fact that the cave was made of ice, the temperature started to rise. Elizabeth got off Will's lap and walked over to Tia Dalma, who stood at the stern looking at the ice walls of the cave. "Are we still in the real world?" she asked the wise woman.
Tia Dalma turned and gave Elizabeth an almost malicious smile. "Trust me, Miss Swann, you will know when we leave this world."
The way Tia Dalma had said those words sent a chill through Elizabeth, making her walk away and go back to Will, who was still examining the charts. She knelt on the other side of the small table and said, "Maybe you should stop looking."
Will looked up at her with surprise. She smiled at him and added. "We have to let Barbossa lead the way."
Will sighed and nodded, standing up to stretch his legs. Elizabeth looked behind Will's shoulder and saw a very dim light in the distance of the cave.
"Can you see that?" she asked Will, walking past him and to bow of the ship.
Will walked up behind her. "Yes," he replied. "It's the other side of the cave."
Elizabeth turned back to look at Barbossa, who seemed content with himself. She sat down on the edge of the boat, putting her hands on either side of her body to hold on. Will took a seat beside her and the pair watched the ship get closer and closer to exit of the cave.
Within half an hour they reached the exit, pushing gently through the waters and out, Will immediately looked up to the star covered sky. He heard Elizabeth gasp. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The midnight sky matched the dark waters of the ocean; the water reflecting the stars put a soft glow throughout the air. He looked at Elizabeth, who had turned and was looking out over the ocean.
He looked around and saw the crew seemed to be in a similar state of awe. A cold wind suddenly blew through the ship and Will watched Elizabeth put her arms around herself and shiver.
"I think we are close," Elizabeth said, looking out towards the horizon.
"Why do you think that?" Will asked, standing close to his fiancИe, seeing her worried expression.
"Just a feeling," she replied in barely a whisper.
Will looked out towards the horizon, his eyes widening in horror: the horizon they were approaching was in fact a drop. He turned swiftly and almost collided with Tia Dalma, who was staring out at the water.
"For what we want most," she said, looking up at Will and catching his eye. "There is a cost must be paid in the end."
He looked down and saw a heart shaped locket on her chest, a smaller version of the one he saw in Davy Jones' locker. Looking up at the Obeh woman, Will was struck by the sudden realization that Tia Dalma was the one who'd betrayed Davy Jones.
"Will?" Elizabeth questioned from behind him.
Will didn't answer her and quickly made his way over to Barbossa, who was standing at the helm. "Barbossa, ahead," he warned, drawing all the crew's attention to what lay before them.
"Aye," Barbossa replied with a very pirate grin. "We're good and lost now."
The crew looked around, confused. Elizabeth repeated his words in disbelief.
"For certain you have to be lost to find a place that can't be found." Barbossa said knowledgeably. "Elseways, everyone would know where it was."
"We're gaining speed," Gibbs said, panic evident in his voice.
"Aye," Barbossa agreed, nodded.
It was clear that Barbossa did not intend to do anything, so Will took action.
"To stations," he commanded. Everyone immediately leapt up and starting running to their posts and Will repeated in a louder voice. "All hands to stations!"
Will pulled on a rope, getting ready to change the ship's direction as he called his commands. The crew was running around crazily. "Rudder full. Hard aport! Gather way."
As he continued to pull the rope, he heard Barbossa yelling from behind him.
"Nay! Belay that! Let her run straight and true!"
Will looked up and saw that Elizabeth and some of the crew had run to the bow of the ship, looking over towards the fall.
Elizabeth turned back and marched towards Barbossa, saying angrily, "You've doomed us all."
Barbossa replied. "Don't be so unkind. You may not survive to pass this way again," he looked at her maliciously, grabbing her chin with his filthy hand. ⌠And these be the last friendly words you'll hear."
The ship was gaining speed at a faster rate. Will passed the rope to a crew member and said, "Tie her off."
Will ran down the ship to the stern, pulling on the helm as hard to the left as he could. As the ship started to turn he could see it was too late.
"Elizabeth!" he yelled out to her and she turned and ran to him. He grabbed her and pulled her to helm, putting his arms around her and gripping the helm tightly. He saw Elizabeth do the same thing and look at the fall in panic.
"Hold on," Will yelled to the crew.
When the ship first reached the edge, the bow tipped and began to fall over. Will pushed Elizabeth against the helm and held her tight as she let out a frightened shriek.
The crew started screaming as the ship fell, turning upside as some of the crew fell from the ship and plummeted into the water, hitting the water just before the ship did.
It landed with a very loud crash, and even though it was upside down, the ship broke the fall. As soon as the ship was underwater, Will let go of the helm and grabbed Elizabeth's arm. He went to swim towards the surface when Elizabeth pulled him down. He looked down and saw she was looking at him, her expression panicked. He moved toward her and saw her ankle was caught on a rope. He swam down and grabbed her leg, tugging on the rope till she was free. He pulled her body against his and kicked against the helm, pushing them up towards the surface. They swam quickly, reaching the surface and taking deep gasping breaths.
As soon as he could breathe, he looked at Elizabeth, saying, "Are you alright?"
Elizabeth looked over at him and then nodded. Will looked around and saw many members of the crew emerging from the water. Gibbs appeared beside them, coughing and spluttering.
"Well now what?" he slurred angrily.
Barbossa, who'd found a boat and climbed into it, floated by behind them. "We let the ocean take us there."
Will saw Elizabeth glaring at Barbossa as he caught a glimpse of a piece of wood behind her. He started swimming towards it.
When he reached it, Will saw that it was a boat, floating the wrong way up. Elizabeth and Gibbs, who had followed him, helped him turned it the right way up. Will climbed into it, then helped Elizabeth in. Gibbs managed to climb in with Will's help as Pintel and Ragetti swam over.
Once the stupid pair were inside the boat, Elizabeth shuffled over and sat beside Will, who looked down at her with a small smile and put his arm around her. It was so difficult to see anything; there weren't as many stars on this side of the waterfall.
"You really think Barbossa knows what he's doing?" Pintel whispered to Gibbs, both of them looking over at Barbossa's boat, which by now had also been inhabited by Tia Dalma and Jack the monkey.
"I'm not sure," Gibbs replied. "But we've run out of options."
At Gibbs' ominous reminder of this obvious fact, a chill shot through Will, and he pulled Elizabeth close, who rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes.
Will looked out into the night, hoping that by morning things wouldn't look so bleak.
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A/N: A special thanks to Aquamarine for Betaing this chapter, she did a great job.