A/N: Thanks so much to my lovely reviewers! You guys are what keeps me writing! I hope you all like this next chapter :)

Chapter XXVII

For such a colossal creature, the Leviathan was surprisingly agile. It sped gracefully through the skeletal wooden remains, only narrowly missing several jagged and protruding splinters. I could do nothing but clutch the beast for dear life. We were traveling at such a fast rate that the pressure of the water as it washed over me made it impossible to even keep my eyes open and my head aloft. The Leviathan's jerky movements only added to this problem, causing me to grow dizzy and disoriented.

Suddenly, we stopped short. I slowly opened my eyes to see that we had entered some sort of cavern. The monster lifted its head from the water and brought us to the stony shore; Jack, Jocard, and Barbossa emerged looking understandably frazzled. In fact, they all wore identical grimaces and a layer of what appeared to be rank saliva.

"Don't worry, that was the worst of it," Jocard informed his comrades as they stepped onto the shore.

"What about the way back?" Barbossa countered dryly.

"Ah, yes, you are indeed correct," the other responded with a pained smile.

I surfaced from the water, but soon realized something more than slightly distressing – I was entirely disrobed. A deep blush lit up my cheeks as I attempted to cover myself with my hair. Barbossa and Jocard watched the proceeding with unbridled appreciation, while Jack seemed just as disconcerted as I was. Hastily, he removed his frock.

"Nothing to see here," he snapped at his brethren as he tossed it to me; I put it on as swiftly as possible and secured the buttons. I had never actually seen it buttoned before – I imagined it looked quite strange, especially since it was much too large and the hem nearly hit my ankles.

Suddenly, Jocard's expression darkened in realization. "You have named her," he stated.

Jack's eyes darted around shiftily. "Er – aye?"

"This will not do…" he muttered gravely. "You must release her. We have no further use for her."

Was this indeed true? I looked at Jack expectantly, for I had no idea how he would react.

"You sure about that, mate?"

"Yes, my friend."

"Just do it, Jack," Barbossa ordered. "That is, if ye think ye can – might be hard to part with such an exquisite creature…"

"I release you," Jack spit out abruptly.

For a moment, I felt as if I might faint. I wondered if he truly wanted to do it, or if he was just trying to appear strong in front of the others. I supposed it didn't matter.

Something inside me snapped. It was as though a fog had been lifted, as though a cord restricting my heartstrings had suddenly been cut. I felt so… cold. I looked at Jack and tried desperately to remember how much I had loved him. I couldn't. I couldn't fathom the idea of loving someone as much as I knew I'd loved him.

From the looks of things, he felt the same.

But I wasn't indifferent to him, not completely. Before he'd even cast the spell, there had been a kernel of affection for him growing inside my heart. I had denied it. I had shunned it. But that did not discredit its existence. And now, it was obvious that what I'd felt before had been only a fraction of what anyone was capable of feeling – of what I was capable of feeling.

"That was… odd," Jack spoke finally.

Barbossa and Jocard looked almost relieved. "Good ta have ye back, Jack," the former said, clapping him on the shoulder in a manner that was just short of affectionate.

"Now, we must press on," Jocard informed us.

"Me as well?" I questioned meekly. I still felt a bit woozy and I certainly didn't want to be left alone, especially since I didn't know the way out.

"Aye, I suppose," Barbossa allowed.

I stepped out of the shallow pool and stood beside Jack. I may not have been in love with him, but I still trusted him far more than the others.

Soon, we started walking into a pitch-black cave. "You're sure this is the way?" I stammered as I heard something crunch beneath my bare feet.

"Yes," Jocard answered bluntly. "Not to worry, this passage is short."

At this, I released a breath that I didn't know I'd been holding in. The tunnel was spooky, to say the very least. I could see nothing, but I would occasionally touch the cave's walls by accident; my palms were met with a damp, slimy substance that had a consistency unlike anything I had touched before. I resisted the urge to gag and stayed closely beside Jack, or at least the figure that I thought was Jack. Whoever it was smelled strongly of rum.

When we reached the end of the tunnel, I saw that my instincts had been correct; I was indeed virtually latched onto none other than Captain Jack Sparrow.

I then turned my attention to the scene before us. We were met with a gate. An enormous gate. Just before it were two mottled Corinthian columns which appeared to have once been made out of stone, but were now covered in barnacles and algae. The gates themselves were fashioned in rusted metal, with two large sculptures of sitting lions on either side.

A single man stood at the entrance; he was dark-skinned, with pulled-back dreadlocks, one of which was bleached blonde. He had a tribal pattern carved into the skin around his right temple and stood at at least six feet tall. His clothing consisted of only the lower half of a toga, revealing a scarred, tattooed, and muscular torso. He held a bronze shield with a depiction of a bull on his forearm and a long, what appeared to be bone spear in his hand.

"Who are you?" he boomed as we came into the low, bluish light.

I tilted my head upwards in astonishment. We were beneath a giant, glass dome. Above us swam schools of fish and the occasional shark. Sunlight from the surface of the water trickled down and illuminated the lost world; the word incredible did not even begin to describe the sight. Beyond the gates lay the city itself, which was built with the same material of the Corinthian columns and had suffered the same sort of erosion.

"Hello, friend," Jocard began solemnly, "We mean you no harm. We have a peaceful order of business with your chief."

The other man narrowed his eyes. "You look familiar," he stated suspiciously.

"Yes, I have visited your city before."

"Then you may enter," he said finally, "But you must leave your weapons at the gates. Know that your are responsible for the conduct of your companions."

Without hesitation, the three pirates began unsheathing their cutlasses and discarding their pistols. Then, they stepped before the guard. However, it was not going to be so simple – he patted them up and down to ensure that they hadn't concealed anything from him. Once fully satisfied, he moved on to me. It must have been obvious that I was nude beneath Jack's coat, because he sent me a bawdy grin when he was finished. Jack cleared his throat loudly and cocked an eyebrow in response to this, and the man begrudgingly pulled a lever behind one of the lion statues; the metal gates creaked open, revealing a rather sparsely populated marketplace.

The townspeople abruptly ceased all activity once we entered the city. It was understandable, I supposed, for I couldn't imagine they ever encountered many outsiders.

What struck me most was that Atlantis was not a glorious place; instead, it seemed almost like a city in decline – a place that had been ravaged by time.

The people were a vast range of different ethnicities, while they all shared a similar style of dress. I noticed that many were tattooed or had altered their bodies in some way, like the guard. Both the men and the women looked equally rugged and many of them eyed me like I was some sort of prize. It was exceedingly unnerving, so again, I kept close to Jack. He seemed to notice this, too, and slung his arm around me. At first this appeared to be an act of protection, but I soon realized that it was instead one of possession, as he was eyeing the passersby like "the cat who got the cream," as the two-footers sometimes say.

I realized quite suddenly that I had applied an unusual term to humans. I hadn't thought that way since… Well, since I left Whitecap Bay. It was disquieting. When the spell was broken, had I reverted further back to my mermaid ways?

These thoughts fled my mind as soon as we arrived at what appeared to be the chief's palace. It was more of a temple than a palace, and most of what was inside was visible from where we stood, including the throne. In fact, the two largest columns framed a cracked marble pathway to the large chair. I had expected it to be made of gold or something similarly valuable, but it instead appeared to consist of carved bone.

The chief himself was a man just as large as the one guarding the gates. However, unlike his kinsman, his skin was a sickly grayish color, possibly the result of a lack of exposure to the sun. He was certainly not young, but I could not, for the life of me, venture a guess to his age, for his hair and goatee were an indeterminate mousy color. His face was heavily lined, but I did not know if this was a product of age or stress. He wore a simple leather band around his head, which appeared to be his substitute for a crown, and a scrimshaw necklace made from whale's teeth. He held a golden trident, which looked as old as the city itself.

As soon as we entered the palace, he banged the end of said trident against the marble floor and the whole of Atlantis seemed to shake. Jocard fell into a deep bow before the chief; Barbossa swiftly followed his lead and stomped on Jack's foot with his peg leg to prompt him to do the same.

"Who are you and why have you come?" the chief's raspy voice thundered.

Barbossa and Jack looked at Jocard expectantly, willing him to speak on their behalf. "We are in need of a favor, your grace," he said finally.

"What sort of favor?" he demanded guardedly.

"You see, the former king of Atlantis, the one who Blackbeard abducted many moons ago, he has cursed us."

"There is and only will ever be one king of Atlantis," the chief said sagaciously, "I am all that came before me and all that shall come after. We are the true king, Poseidon. What you see before you is merely a vessel."

"Yes, of course," Jocard quickly amended, "How foolish of me, my king. But the 'vessel' that you once inhabited – he has cursed us."

"In what manner?"

"Blackbeard abused the man's power to bewitch his ship and his crew," he stated gravely.

The chief stroked his scraggly beard in contemplation. "And what is it you need from me?"

"Our ships have been reduced to – to miniature versions of what they once were."

The chief seemed impressed. "That is strong black magic," he said.

"Indeed, my grace. And no doubt you know the only remedy for such magic…?"

"Indeed, I do," he confirmed. "But tell me, mortals, what leads you to believe that I will help you? From the sound of things, your comrades have already betrayed my people." He his eyes wandered over all of us, but they lingered a bit too long on me.

This did not escape Jocard's notice. "Ah, we have brought an offering of good faith, of course," he said, motioning to me.

Oh dear. I didn't like where this was going. I turned to Jack in panic; he looked equally surprised at first, but recovered quickly.

"She would make a lovely queen, wouldn't she…" the chief thought aloud.

Wait. What? Queen?

"I'm not sure I follow what's going on," I sputtered, desperation invading my voice.

Barbossa wore a ghost of a smirk, while Jocard's expression was customarily unreadable.

"You are to become my queen, mermaid," the chief answered derogatorily.

I blinked several times in a vain attempt to process what was going on. Was I about to be traded for a ship again? Was I going to be forced to marry this wretched, hideous man, only to be trapped in this god-forsaken ruin of a once-great city until the end of my days?

"Surely a man as handsome as yourself," I started hurriedly, "Surely a man as handsome yourself already has a queen?" My tone was sincere enough, but I don't think I managed to come across as convincing.

"I have several, but none like you. You shall be a wonderful addition…" he replied as he picked at his repulsive fingernails.

"Wait just a moment," Jack cut in tentatively, speaking for the first time, "I was not aware that this was – er – part of the bargain, as it were."

The chief donned an expression of severe boredom, but Barbossa quickly sneered, "Aren't ye glad we had ye release her, Jack?"

"Yes," Jocard concurred, "Now you are free to pursue your true love, the Pearl."

"So, what'll it be, Jack?" questioned Barbossa. "Now's not the time to go all gooey."

"Well, bugger," was his sole response.

A/N: Oh dearie me, Jack has a big decision to make... Please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts! And as always, thanks for reading :)