As untamable as Calypso is, Elizabeth has to admit that she is not as cruel as the whole thing with Davy Jones has at first made her think. The goddess is actually very kind at times, in her way. She visits Elizabeth often when she is dreaming, on nights when the Dutchman's Captain feels particularly lonely. At first she is suspicious of the goddess, but after a while she finds that she enjoys these dreams. The goddess does well to bring her short periods of genuine peace, making her dream that she is on land, feeling the sand beneath her bare feet.
The goddess herself never actually appears, but Elizabeth can feel her presence in a unique way; the way the waves in her dreams seem to whisper to her, the way the sun seems to caress her skin as it bathes her in a gentle warmth, the way the water seems to caress her skin when she wades into it.
Elizabeth isn't quite sure if Calypso is capable of having friends, but her goddess seems to be trying to be helpful, and she knows better than to be ungreatful. It takes some time, but eventually Elizabeth learns to trust her goddess.
It is only when she admits it to herself that she's beginning to long for the nights when her goddess comes to her that the dreams begin to change their tune. Calypso begins to appear in person, taking on the form of Tia Dalma, but much more beautiful and much less ragged. They talk sometimes, and sometimes they just walk along the shore. Elizabeth isn't quite sure what any of it means. She also isn't quite sure she wants to know.
When her goddess appears on the deck of the Flying Dutchman in all her strange beauty, beckoning Elizabeth forward, she isn't stunned like the rest of her crew. She walks forward obediently and bows reverently, as she does every time she sees Calypso.
"My goddess." She says, keeping her head down in respect until her goddesses somewhat amused voice tells her to stand, just as she always does.
She does so and watches as her goddess looks around as though inspecting the ship they are on.
"Ye be takin much better care of her den her last captain." She praises in her strange accent. "Come, Lizzie. I have sometin to tell ye." She turns gracefully and walks below decks towards Elizabeth's cabin.
The crew turn their stares on their Captain, shocked at the familiarity with which the goddess addressed her. Bill and Marie both look oddly worried.
Elizabeth's eyes narrow as she surveys them all.
"What are you looking at?" She bellows as she stalks across the deck after her goddess. "Back to work, the lot you!" She can hear them scrambling to do as she told them as she too disappears below decks.
She walks into her open cabin door and is surprised to be met with a kind smile from her goddess.
"Dat be very pretty ring ye have dere." She gestures towards Elizabeth's left hand, the one on whose finger rests a small and ornately carved golden wedding ring.
Elizabeth gives a sad smile, twisting the ring on her finger with her other hand.
"Will gave it to me the last time I saw him. He has one too."
Her goddess's eyes look sad now. Elizabeth's brow furrows.
"A touch of destiny." She says quietly and steps closer to Elizabeth. "Come. I will take us somewhere more pleasant to tell ye what I must." She reaches out a hand and gently touches the left side of Elizabeth's chest.
Elizabeth pauses for a moment, then gasps suddenly as her lungs feel ready to burst for want of air.
For the first time in six years, she feels the need to breath.
Her hand flies to her chest as the scene around her changes from that of her dimly lit cabin to that of the beach she has so often been allowed to visit in her dreams. She looks around with wide eyes, then down at the sand beneath her boots. This is no dream. Her hand still clutches her chest.
She jumps when she realizes she can feel her heart beating inside it.
Elizabeth is sitting calmly in the sand, the coat she wore as well as her sword and boots all laying discarded a short ways away. She is leaning back with her eyes closed, enjoying the feel of being alive and it not being a dream, knowing instinctively that this is a special gift and will not last very long.
"May I inquire as to what I did to deserve something this..wonderful?" She asks aloud, her eyes still closed, because she can feel her goddess's presence grow stronger as she appears beside her in the sand.
"What makes ye tink ye must do sometin special for me to give ye a gift?" Calypso replies.
Elizabeth opens her eyes to look at her goddess. Her eyes look sad again.
"I have sometin to tell ye. Dere be a way to break de curse."
Elizabeth straightens up, her eyes widening.
"How?" She asks.
"If your William stays true to ye for de rest of dese ten years," she pauses, gazing at Elizabeth with her dark, intense eyes, "den ye may go free."
"Oh! That's.. wonderful news!" Elizabeth exclaims. "J-just wait until I tell him! And Emily, oh my little Emily! I'll be able to watch her grow! Oh, how I would so much like that!" She is so excited that it takes her a moment to notice that her goddess seems to grow even sadder.
"Tell me, my Lizzie. How much do ye really trust 'im dat ye gave yah heart?"
'My Lizzie.' Strange, her goddess has never said that before.
"I should think," Elizabeth replies slowly, "that my giving him my heart would be answer enough for that question."
"Ye have yah doubts."
Elizabeth doesn't respond.
"As well ye should." She turns her eyes out towards the water when Elizabeth still says nothing. "Ye once wished for a pirate to call yah own. William Turnah loved ye so much, he became exactly what yah wanted. De only question now is, do ye want what yah now 'ave got?"
Elizabeth ponders this for a moment.
"May I see him? See what he's doing now? Is that possible?"
Her goddess nods once and a large mirror appears before them, stuck in the sand. Will appears in it, surrounded by other men in what appears to be a tavern of sorts. He has obviously been drinking, and smiles wide when a woman approaches him.
A woman that easily fits Emily's discription of Jade. She pulls him out of his seat and he places a hand awfully low on her waist as they begin to dance.
Elizabeth looks away, not wanting to know what will happen next. The mirror disappears. She feels no anger, not as this Elizabeth, alive and well sitting on a beautiful beach. Only sadness.
Her goddess's voice is gentle and quiet when she speaks again.
"He has remained faithful so far, but I cannot guarentee he will remain so for another four years."
"I understand. I suppose I shall just have to wait and see. I don't know what I'll do if…"
"I cannot protect yah from what yah might become when you are not in my world." The goddess gestures to the beautiful world around them. "Whatevah happens, you must remember not to lose yahself."
The warning causes a sense of dread to settle in the pit of Elizabeth's stomach as her goddess reminds her of fears she's had for some time now. It mixes with her sadness, overwhelming her. She feels a tear slide down her cheek and turns away from her goddess to hide it.
Her goddess is in front of her again before she knows what is happening. A warm hand caresses her cheek.
"My Lizzie." The words, spoken low and husky this time, send a familiar tingling sensation traveling down Elizabeth's spine. Will has been known to make her react like that by simply saying 'Elizabeth'… She gives her goddess a questioning look.
Her goddess leans in and places a kiss on her forehead, and suddenly she lurches forward with a shriek, clutching her chest again.
"Don' forget yahself, Captain Turnah. Please." The words are a whisper all around her as there is a gust of wind and suddenly Elizabeth is back in her cabin, dressed fully as she was before she was whisked away.
She can no longer feel her heart in her chest. She drops her hand in disgust and snorts as her old doubts about Calypso return full force. 'My Lizzie'? What was the goddess playing at, anyways? It had seemed, for a moment, almost as if Calypso had been about to kiss her lips rather than…
The thought is at first not unwelcome. She pushes it away, disgusted with herself this time. What was wrong with her?
She stalks back out of her cabin and out on deck, scowling at anyone who dares to look her way, except for Marie and Bill.
"Cap'n." Bill greets her. "Is..everything alright?"
"Yes, of course. Everything is fine." She replies, and it is all she can do not to snap at her father-in-law.
He is usually inclined to leave it be when Elizabeth seems in a foul mood, but this time he feels he must say something.
"The-your goddess," he emphasises 'your' oddly, an indirect question, "has never daned to appear to us in such a way before. Is there something amiss?"
He is used to her softening up a bit when he expresses his concerns. This time, though, her eyes narrow dangerously. She is giving him a look that sends shivers down his spine; he has seen a similar one on the face of a man with tentacles on too many occasions to count.
"That," she snaps, "is none of your business. Where are we headed next?"
He sitiffens.
"Aye, Cap'n Turner." He replies, hurt and trying not to show it. "There's a wreck just outside of…"
Wow, kind of a long chapter. The next one will be only Will and Emily. I just like to keep chapters short-ish. I'll try to update soon.
Thanks for the reviews I've gotten. Always love to get more. (: