Chapter 18
The Devil's throat was a narrow winding river. Many a ship had crashed in its attempt to sail to the court.
"Luv, do any of the lords know of you?" Jack asked
"Jocard." Jewel said
"Other than him." Jack said. Jewel thought. She did have a run-in with Captain Chevalle, which was a rather painful experience. The rest of the lords, she'd only heard of.
"Why?" she asked
"Curious." Jack replied with a shrug.
"Captain Chevalle." Jewel said, recalling their meeting, "He also mentioned something in regards to money." She looked up at her father. He seemed nervous, his eyes darting left and right. He ran away. Jewel groaned.
Once again, a mistake her father made had almost cost her her life. Why was she the one to have to suffer through those moments? Why couldn't he ever take responsibility for himself?
"We're almost there." Barbossa said when he walked up to her. As soon as those words left his mouth, they arrived in the hidden cove that was the Brethren Court and Shipwreck Town.
The town was enormous. Cobbled together with all manner of ship pieces, in a way it almost looked like a christmas tree, complete with lanterns. All around the town, ships were docked. 5 flagships belonging to five of the pirate lords, with their small armadas docked next to them.
"There's so many." Jewel commented. Everybody else had gathered to the railing she was standing at as they sailed further into the cove.
"Aye." Barbossa said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "There's not been a gatherin' like this in our lifetime." Jack walked up to them.
"And I owe them all money." he said. Jewel and Barbossa looked at the pirate. Then shook their heads.
"Sparrow." Barbossa said
"I'm not surprised." Jewel said. Jack looked at them both, then at Barbossa's hand on his daughter's shoulder. He took it off and pointed to the two.
"No." he said, walking away. As soon as he was out of sight, Jewel grabbed Barbossa's hand and put in on her shoulder. The two pirates smirked when he noticed.
"I still need to talk to Calypso." Jewel said
"After the meetin's adjourned Sparrow." Barbossa replied said. The Pearl was docked and the crew departed into the town. It was amazing how several ships were used to construct all of it. It was a miracle of architecture. The crew walked through the town, heading for the court.
"Stay close luv." Jack said
"And what if I don't?" Jewel asked
"We may be pirate lords here, but the word pirate comes before lord." Jack whispered, "Just be cautious. You can't tell who may stab you in the back before it's too late." Jewel looked up at him.
"I'm impressed at your sign of actual wisdom." she said. Jack messed up her hair in response.
"Ms. Sparrow." A voice said, making them all stop. Jewel winced at the voice and turned to look down a hall where the voice originated.
"Bonjour Captain Chevalle." she said, a hint of nervousness in her voice. Chevalle moved closer and Jewel looked down.
"Chevalle." Jack said with a smile, holding his hand out.
"Be there a problem?" Barbossa asked
"Only a minor one. One that I would like to deal with myself without interruption." Chevalle said
"Really? And what did my daughter do to you?" Jack asked
"Ah, so my powder is working and you can not see the scar on my face." Chevalle said with a smile. He turned his head to the right. On his cheek was a deep scar. Jack made a face, but recovered.
"Hardly noticeable." he said with a smile. Chevalle's smile fell.
"That is not what I was told by all those madame, mademoiselles, and even my crew, after I met her." he said, pointing his cane at Jewel.
"It was an accident! I didn't want to fight!" Jewel said
"You insulted my honor!" Chevalle said, handing his cane back to one of his men and drawing his rapier.
"I did no such thing!" Jewel said, hastily drawing her own cutlass. Barbossa moved between the two, holding his hands out.
"Care to explain just what happened to have you hungry for Jewel's blood?" he asked
"I was strolling through my village, enjoying the day, when suddenly the urchin fell on top of me!" Chevalle said
"I stole something and tried running away up a hill, but then I fell down and rolled on top of him." Jewel explained
"She humiliated me and I demanded she pay for her mistake." Chevalle said
"I apologized, and even offered what I stole to you! It would have bought two ships!" Jewel said
"And when we fought, she marred my face." Chevalle said, putting a hand to the scar.
"He was going to stab me when I said my name. I closed my eyes and swung my sword, not expecting to hit anything." Jewel said, "I ran away after that."
"You cretin embarrassed me! I was shamed for losing a duel to Sparrow's daughter! And for that, my petite chou-fleur, you will die!" Chevalle said, raising his rapier. However, another sword quickly blocked the attack. One that belonged to neither Jewel, Jack, or even Barbossa.
Gentleman Jocard pushed back on his sword, making Chevalle stumble backwards. He regained his composure and dusted himself off. Jocard moved in front of Jewel and the crew, ready to defend.
"Step down. This is a matter between me and the Sparrow." Chevalle said
"You will not harm a single hair on her head." Jocard replied. Chevalle raised his eyebrows, his men moving forward to stand with him, outnumbering Jocard and the Black Pearl crew.
"Is that so?" he asked. Jocard's men, which were larger in body and number, approached and stood around their captain.
"Are you ready to face death?" Jocard asked. Chevalle looked at his men, a twinge of fear in his eyes. He scoffed.
"There is no point in my revenge now, so long as other are involved." he said sourly. He sheathed his rapier and walked off with his men. Jocard sheathed his own sword and spun around, hugging Jewel.
"Thank you for that." Jewel said
"It is good to see you again." he said letting her go. He looked at Jack.
"Hello Jocard." he said with a smile. The two men shook hands with each other.
"Welcome back to our land of the living Sparrow." he said. Jocard nodded at him before walking in the same direction Chevalle went. Shortly after, the crew of the Black Pearl followed.
"See what I meant?" Jack asked. Jewel rolled her eyes.
"Yes dad." she groaned. She just hated that he was right, but at least he wasn't rubbing it into her face.
They reached the room where all of the pirate lords have gathered, but first they stopped at a globe where they pierced their swords into their territory. Jewel looked at where Barbossa's sword was.
"The Caspian Sea?" she asked, "Isn't it a bit... small? And disconnected?" She looked at him, but he made no reaction.
"Aye." he said
"That explains you wanting to take my father's place." Jewel said, nodding her head. While Jack remained with the globe, the rest walked to a big table, where the remaining six pirate lords were seated. They all chatted, and argued, amongst themselves. Barbossa banged a chain-ball on the table, getting everybody's attention.
"As he who issued summons, I convene this, the fourth Brethren Court." Barbossa announced, "To confirm your lordship and right to be heard, present now your pieces of eight, my fellow cap'ns." Ragetti stepped forward with a bowl and went to each pirate lord. The lords all put something into the bowl, the items ranging from a pair of spectacles to a playing card.
"Those aren't pieces of eight, they're just pieces of junk." Pintel pointed out
"Aye, the original plan was to use nine pieces of eight to bind Calypso, but when the first court met, the brethren were to a one, skint broke." Gibbs explained
"So change the name." Pintel said
"To what? The 'Nine Pieces of Whatever We Happened to Have in Our Pockets at the Time'? Oh yes, that sounds very piratey." Gibbs said. Jewel chuckled at the word 'Piratey'. Ragetti returned to Barbossa and held the bowl out. Barbossa held out his hand instead.
"Master Ragetti, if you will." he said
"I kept it safe for you, just like you said when you gave it to me." Ragetti said with a smile.
"Aye, ya have, but now I need it back." Barbossa said. He whacked Ragetti on the back of his head, making his wooden eye pop out and land in Barbossa's outstretched hand. He dropped it into the bowl.
"Sparrow!" Villanueva called out, noticing Jack hadn't given up his piece of eight yet. The pirate captain in question reached a hand up to touch a coin on the end of a beaded strand hanging off his bandana.
"Might I point out that we are still short one pirate lord, and I'm content as a cucumber to wait until Sao Feng joins us." Jack said, stepping forward to the table.
"Sao Feng is dead." came an all to familiar voice. Everybody turned to the entryway and saw Elizabeth, followed by Sao Feng's crew. The women were dressed in new pirate outfits. Elizabeth walked forward with her men following her, Heather going to her friends.
"He fell to the Flying Dutchman." Elizabeth said. There was a great uproar to this news.
"The plague ship?" Mistress Ching shouted out. Elizabeth plunged her sword into the globe and walked to the table, standing near Barbossa and Jack.
"And he made you captain? They're just giving the bloody title away now." Jack said
"Listen." Elizabeth said, getting the pirate lords to pay attention to her for a moment, "Our location has been betrayed. Jones is under the command of Lord Beckett, they're on their way here."
"Who is this betrayer?" Jocard asked
"Not likely anyone among us." Barbossa said assuringly.
"Where's Will?" Elizbaeth asked
"Not among us." Jack answered
"And it matters not how they found us. The question is, what will we do now that they have?" Barbossa asked
"We fight!" Elizabeth yelled out. The lords all broke into laughter at the idea. Mistress Ching stood up in her seat.
"Shipwreck Cove is a fortress, a well supplied fortress. There is no need to fight if they cannot get to us." she said
"Where's James?" Jewel asked, noticing his absence amongst her friend's crew. Elizabeth looked at Jewel, before her eyes fell to the table.
"He helped us escape, but..." Elizabeth said. She didn't have to say any more.
"... No." Jewel said, shaking her head, tears forcing to come loose from her eyes. "Not him."
"There be a third course." Barbossa said, his calm tone drawing everyone's attention. Barbossa walked around the end of the table, "In another age, at this very spot, the first court captured the sea goddess, and bound her in her bones." He leaned forward on the table and nodded. Chuckles filled the air. Barbossa stopped nodding and shook his head.
"That was a mistake." he said. The chuckles stopped, "Oh, we tamed the seas for ourselves, aye, but opened the door to Beckett and his ilk. Better were the days when mastery of seas came not from bargains struck with eldritch creatures, but from the sweat of a man's brow and the strength of his back alone. Y'all know this to be true." Jewel smiled at him, rubbing tears from her eyes. Barbossa walked over to stand next to Elizabeth.
"Gentlemen, ladies. We must free Calypso." Barbossa said, finishing his speech. For once, there was nothing but silence. Though nobody spoke a word, the shocked faces on the lords was enough. All at once, they started yelling in outrage to Barbossa's strategy.
"Shoot him!" Armand yelled
"Cut out his tongue!" Jocard yelled
"Shoot him and cut out his tongue, then shoot his tongue. And trim that scraggly beard." Jack suggested
"Dad, you have a scraggly beard." Jewel commented
"It's not scraggly." he replied, putting a hand to the small braids that hung off his chin.
"Sao Feng would have agreed with Barbossa." Tai Huang said
"Calypso was our enemy then, she will be our enemy now." Jocard pointed out
"And it's not likely her mood's improved." Captain Chevalle agreed.
"But the least we could do is try something!" Jewel yelled
"No! She must not be released, girl!" Armand yelled. Villanueva stood and pulled out his pistol, placing it on the table, facing Chevalle next to him.
"I would still agree with Sao Feng, we release Calypso!" he said. Chevalle stood up in response.
"You threaten me?" he asked
"I silence you!" Villanueva retorted raising his pistol. Chevalle punched Villanueva, making him shoot his pistol in the air. Pirate lords and their crew all started fighting each other, no matter who it was.
"This is madness!" Elizabeth said.
"This is politics." Jack said
"Meanwhile our enemies are bearing down upon us." Elizabeth said
"If they not be here already." Barbossa said. Jewel looked at the fighting, then at her friends and family. They weren't paying attention to her. She backed away and ran before picturing the brig on the Pearl, the need to see Calypso pounding in her heart.