Birds of a Feather
The Curse of the Black Pearl
Chapter Eight
The Wrong Leverage
True to her word, The Mermaid kept Elizabeth and her secrets for the rest of the voyage. And no matter how many times Ragetti, Pintel, or even Barbossa came into the cabin, no one figured out that Elizabeth had been unchained.
They passed their time by telling each other about their lives and cultures. The Mermaid learned all about Port Royal, a little bit about English culture, and decent amount about Elizabeth's family (though Elizabeth was careful not to reveal that she wasn't in fact Bootstrap Bill's daughter). Philip was a topic The Mermaid had taken a particular interest in, though Elizabeth couldn't fathom way beyond the queries to explain further why he was a different sort of man.
In turn Elizabeth learned a great deal about Mermaids and The Mermaid's life before coming to The Black Pearl.
The Mermaid had come from a heavily mermaid populated area called Whitecap Bay, which was located near Florida. She had grown up never knowing who her parents were because her father had been killed immediately after conception, and all young mermaids were raised communally, so the title of biological mother was meaningless to them. The older mermaids taught the young how to hunt and seduce until the First Swim. The Mermaid enthusiastically told Elizabeth about how after completing the First Swim, a mermaid would be given a name. However, she would not elaborate on the results of her First Swim, only admitting that she had had one.
Her life after that First Swim was as much a mystery to Elizabeth as what was in store when they reached Isla de Muerta.
"This ritual," Elizabeth nervously asked when near a month of travel had passed, "what exactly will it consist of?"
The Mermaid - who had been playfully swimming around her tank - shrugged, "I don't know. The crew gave their blood before I came along. But I do not think they will kill you."
"That's a relief," Elizabeth managed a smile. "How much longer do you think it'll be until we get there? It's been so long. We must be halfway to England by now."
"Oh, I could not tell you precisely where on a map it is. Magic and curses are strange in that way. I think we're still actually in the Caribbean, if not the South Americas."
"Well, that will make it easy for me to get rescued," Elizabeth had to hold back a smile as she thought about how absolutely not thrilled Uncle Nathaniel would be at the thought of his niece being trapped in Conquistador claimed territory. Nathaniel was a kind, welcoming, and open-minded person, but it was almost famous how little patience he had with Spanish Catholics and their fanaticism.
"If there is a rescue in progress, it must happen very shortly." The Mermaid swam over to look out the window, "I think we're here."
As if on cue, thudding footsteps filled the hallway outside of the cabin, and the girls could hear familiar voices getting near.
"Quick!" The Mermaid ordered. "Put the shackle on!"
Elizabeth clipped on the shackle just in time for the door to swing open and Ragetti, Pintel, Twigg, and Koehler to walk in.
"Time to go, Poppet," Pintel grinned maliciously.
Elizabeth and The Mermaid exchanged a quick look, and The Mermaid gave the woman she had come to think of as a friend a fraction of a smile. Twigg unshackled Elizabeth as Pintel took down the chain held under the label "Leash Line". As Elizabeth was pulled to her feet, Ragetti was unfolding a large blanket.
"Go ahead without us," Pintel ordered as The Mermaid began to lift herself out of the tank. "We'll meet you at the longboats."
With a sneer, Koehler pulled Elizabeth out of the room, Twigg trailing behind them.
The remaining trio waited a good ten minutes for the signal. Finally, there was a small tapping on glass. They looked to see Jack the Monkey knocking his tiny fist against the window outside.
"Alright, everyone's in the longboats," Pintel recognized the signal as Jack crawled away to return to Barbossa. "Let's go, Poppet."
Ragetti handed the blanket to Pintel and held out a hand for The Mermaid, helping her out of the tank. The second her tail was completely out of the water, it did the one thing Barbossa had so desperately hid from the rest of the crew for over a decade.
The Mermaid's tail transformed into human legs.
As usual, when The Mermaid stepped onto the deck, she wobbled unsteadily and fell forward. Ragetti was always prepared, so he caught her and scooped The Mermaid into his arms, carrying her bridal style. The Mermaid could never manage walking more than the length of the room. Even that was sometimes challenging as she had been reminded while picking the lock on Elizabeth's shackle.
Barbossa, Ragetti, Pintel, Jack the Monkey, and The Mermaid were careful to make sure none of the crew knew she could have legs. Sure, there were rumors as it was part of the popular tale of how mermaids mated, but no one on the crew had ever confirmed it. The Mermaid was more than happy in keeping the mystery, especially around Twigg and Koehler. They had come too close to finding out the truth on the day they had forced their way into her cabin to have a little fun with her. Thankfully her violence and unsteadiness on her feet which caused her to mainly crawl that day, had been able to distract them enough from realising she was completely biologically woman from the waist down.
Whenever The Mermaid needed to be transported out of the cabin, Pintel and Ragetti would be sent for her. They loosely secured the leash line – a chain the length of the ship twice over with a flexible, padded shackle that sat comfortably over her hips – which would be used to pretend that she still needed to be restrained from escaping. When the coast was clear (signalled by Jack the Monkey) Ragetti would carry her to where the cannons were stored.
Pintel had already raced along with the blanket to get into Barbossa's longboat. Ragetti opened the gun port of one of the cannons. Thankfully The Mermaid small enough and the gun ports large enough that The Mermaid was able to squeeze through. She dove into the water, her leash line trailing behind her.
The Mermaid relished the feeling of immersing herself in the sea. A part of her yearned to swim away and never come back, but she knew her duty and followed the routine.
By the time she had swam around the ship and reached the longboats, Ragetti had settled in. The Mermaid knew exactly which to get into: the one containing Barbossa, Ragetti, Pintel, Elizabeth, Twigg, and Koehler. Quick as a flash, Ragetti and Barbossa pulled The Mermaid into the longboat, and right before her tail transformed back into legs, Pintel threw the blanket over her lower half. As usual, Pintel and Ragetti had secretly set an oar in just the right way so that it looked as if The Mermaid still had a tail.
The Mermaid gathered up her leash line and threw the chain to Barbossa, the end of which he secured to the boat. They had once thought it easier if The Mermaid had just stayed in the water when traveling between the ship and the island, but that idea was tossed aside several years ago. The pirates had been rowing in a rough storm that made enormous, overpowering waves when they lost control of the boats. The pirates had abandoned the longboats and walked on the ocean bed the rest of the way, thanks to their curse, but The Mermaid had no such luck. No one had thought to release her and the storm was so strong that she couldn't catch up to the boat her chain had been secured to and free herself.
What made the situation worse was that the waters surrounding Isla de Muerta were filled with the broken, dangerous remnants of dozens of sunken ships. Early in the accident, her head had smashed into a crate and knocked her out, so she didn't remember much more of the accident. The Mermaid's longboat dragged her helplessly behind it, smashing The Mermaid into various pieces of broken wood, jagged metal, and all manner of things. She was eventually rescued by Bo'sun when Pintel and Ragetti realised The Mermaid was missing, and she almost died from her resulting injuries. Since then The Mermaid was more than happy to simply sit in the boat where she could inform someone to untie the line if something happened. She would risk the crew discovering her legs any day over getting dragged behind a longboat again.
As she reflected on the memory, she couldn't help but think of another time there had been an underwater rescue. It was a memory she had not thought of in years, and it wasn't her being rescued in it.
For the first few years of her captivity, The Mermaid had tried to escape the pirates. One time when she was but twelve years old, she found success. It was during an attack on a ship the pirates sensed a piece of the Aztec treasure was on. In the chaos, The Mermaid had slipped away when Ragetti and Pintel didn't properly secure her in their haste to battle, and The Mermaid found herself free on the open sea. She had had every chance to get away when she spotted him: an unconscious boy floating on a piece of driftwood.
He had pale skin, brown hair, and breath still in his lungs. The boy was barely older than The Mermaid, and she couldn't help but feel sympathy. As an act of kindness, despite the harsh laws of the Mermaids to kill any males in the water (and Calypso knew it had been so long since The Mermaid had enjoyed human flesh) The Mermaid rescued the boy. She towed him to the safety of a ship and the kind sailors aboard took him.
The Mermaid hid under another piece of driftwood, listening as the boy was taken care of. After several minutes, The Mermaid decided to take one final look to ensure the boy was safe before she swam to freedom.
It was then she had seen him; it was another boy, maybe a year older than The Mermaid.
This new boy was an image The Mermaid had never forgotten. Light brown hair, suntanned skin, and wonderful green eyes that had widened when they saw her tail. The Mermaid had felt drawn to him, but swam away before he could call out his discovery. Sometimes The Mermaid wondered what would have happened if she had stayed. It had been her flight from that boy that caused Barbossa to recapture her, and although things had eventually ended well, The Mermaid still couldn't help but wonder whatever became of that boy she saw on a ship named the HMS Dauntless.
Not far from the longboats rowing away from the Black Pearl, another longboat was rowing towards it. Philip Swift and Will Turner – the very same boys The Mermaid had encountered all those years ago – sat patiently waiting as Captain Jack Sparrow observed the Black Pearl through his spyglass.
"Is she there?" Will asked eagerly. Part of him could not believe they had actually made it to the ship that took Elizabeth.
"No," Jack lowered the spyglass.
Philip and Will looked at each other in alarm. They couldn't have gotten so close only for Elizabeth to be gone. Philip clutched the cross hung around his neck and prayed that Elizabeth was still alive.
"Where is she?" Will pressed.
"Maybe she's below deck, or somewhere we can't see?" Philip suggested.
"No," Jack shook his head. "It's begun."
"In you go, Poppet," Pintel lowered The Mermaid into the water.
The caves of Isla de Muerta were riddled with a system of interconnected pools. Whenever the pirates would visit, Pintel and Ragetti would lift The Mermaid out of the longboat (carrying the oar along with her to continue the masquerade that she had a tail) and place her into a pool. The Mermaid would swim freely throughout the treasure cave acting as a lookout in what Barbossa called "earning her share of the treasure." Although she did earn a large portion of her share from being a useful fighter whenever the Black Pearl partook in ship to ship combat, allowed to fight from the water.
"We'll come right back to you once the curse is broken," Ragetti promised.
The Mermaid smiled at the duo, "Good. I want to say goodbye before I leave."
"What about your share of the treasure?" Pintel asked.
"I'll come back for it, I just…" The Mermaid side-eyed Twigg and Koehler as they hauled a chest into the cave. "I want to get away from them for a while."
"Well," Ragetti looked regretfully at Pintel, "don't be a stranger."
"I won't," The Mermaid promised. If it wouldn't compromise her image, she would have hugged both then and there. "Now, get on with it before the Captain yells at you for not helping haul swag."
"This looks promising," Pintel gleefully ran over to a large chest, Ragetti trailing behind. "I say we claim this one here and now!"
The Mermaid's laughter carried across the cave.
"What?" Pintel frowned.
"Open it," The Mermaid instructed.
Inside the chest was a collection of elegant women's clothing and accessories. The duo looked disappointed as Ragetti held up a red dress.
"You have to admit," Ragetti tried to sound helpful, "this colour would go nicely with Fins' tail."
The Mermaid laughed, plunging onto her back and splashed her tail playfully at the duo.
Elizabeth, who had watched the exchange from afar, felt a strong hand on her back.
"Move!" Bo'sun pushed Elizabeth forward.
As Elizabeth stumbled, she looked back at The Mermaid, who was watching her sympathetically.
"Good luck," The Mermaid mouthed to Elizabeth.
She struggled to give The Mermaid a smile back before she was forced further into the cave. Elizabeth was happy that there was at least someone nearby that was looking out for her, but she knew exactly how she felt about the creature that kept her locked in a cabin. No amount of small talk would change the terrifying conditions The Mermaid had been all too happy to keep Elizabeth in at the orders of Barbossa. The Mermaid may view Elizabeth as a friend, but that didn't mean Elizabeth thought her one in return. So Elizabeth forced a false smile back at The Mermaid because she knew that she had to take advantage of any means of escape available. But deep down, Elizabeth knew ultimately she would on her own to get out of the clutches of the pirates.
It never even crossed Elizabeth's mind that Will and Philip were getting closer by the second.
"Remind me again, Turner why I let you talk me into this?" Philip shuddered as they rowed past a skeleton with a sword plunged in its back.
"As I recall, Dear Philip it was your idea to tag along in the first place," Will corrected. "Jack? What Code is Gibbs to keep to if the worst should happen?"
"Pirate's Code," Jack answered. "Any man who falls behind-"
"Is left behind," Philip finished. Upon seeing Jack's surprised look, Philip expounded, "My mother told Elizabeth and I a lot of stories about pirates and such."
"That explains a lot," Jack said. "I fully expected more questions from you about the sea turtle raft made of rope from my back hair."
"Oh, I have those questions, but I'm not fool enough to ask them."
"Good boy. You're learning!"
"Anyone who falls behind is left behind," Will bitterly shook his head. "No heroes amongst thieves, eh?"
Jack glanced at Will, "For having such a bleak outlook on pirates, you're well on your way to becoming one. Both of you are."
Philip shook his head, "We are not-"
"You sprung a man from jail," Jack began to list off, "commandeered a ship of the fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga."
A glittering in the water caught the trio's eyes. They looked down in fascination at the gold coins and treasure that covered the seabed.
"And you're completely obsessed with treasure," Jack finished as the longboat pulled onto the shore.
Not far from them, a mermaid's head perked up at the sound of strange voices.
"That's not true," Will insisted as they climbed out of the boat. "I am not obsessed with treasure."
Jack climbed up a rock studded with stalactites and stalagmites and smiled, "Not all treasure is silver and gold, Mate. And I'm not just talking about the enteral paradise, Phil here is obsessed with."
"Gentlemen, the time has come!" a strange voice rang throughout the cave as Philip and Will climbed up after Jack. "Our salvation is nigh! Our torment is near an end."
Philip and Will settled to see a large opening into the main part of the cave. Every inch of the room was covered in treasure beyond their wildest dreams. Fifty some pirates were gathered around a mound that held an ancient looking chest on top. A fearsome looking man stood next to the chest, wearing a large feathered hat. And standing directly behind the chest was the very person the boys had come all this way to find.
"Elizabeth," Will whispered.
Philip clapped Will's shoulder happily at seeing his cousin alive and relatively safe looking. He couldn't help but start muttering a prayer of thanks as - who Philip assumed was Barbossa - continued his speech.
As Barbossa's words travelled the cave, The Mermaid swam slowly through the water. Though they were low, infrequent, and easily drowned out by Barbossa, she knew she had heard strangers.
And it was her job to "welcome" those guests.
"Save for this!"
"Jack!" Will hurriedly pulled himself up as Barbossa gestured threateningly to Elizabeth.
"Not yet!" Jack pushed down Will.
As Will's hand slid down, the gold it was dragging along clinked. It was the utmost minute sound, caught only by the highly advanced hearing of a monkey and a mermaid.
"We wait for the opportune moment," Jack said before climbing down.
Will and Philip exchanged a look. They knew this was the moment Jack had been building to. With a nod from Philip, the boys followed after Jack.
"When's that?" Will demanded, not knowing that the sound was drawing something close to them. "When it's of greatest profit to you?"
"Forgive us if we're unsatisfied with waiting until Elizabeth is dead before acting," Philip snapped.
"May I ask you something?" Jack turned to face the boys. "Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?"
"Are you specifically looking for the time you took Elizabeth hostage or the time you rushed me and dangled Will from a mast over the ocean?" Philip shot.
Jack rolled his eyes, "Philiam, do us a favor. I know it's difficult for you, but please stay here and try not to do anything stupid."
Will and Philip narrowed their eyes at the pirate but let Jack leave without any fight.
"We're both on board with this?" Will asked Philip while still looking straight forward.
"Absolutely," Philip nodded. "You take care of Jack and then we'll see if there's another way in."
"I'll take the right and you take the left?"
"Then meet back here with Elizabeth."
"You know the first thing I'm gonna do after the curse is lifted?" Barbossa's voice continued as The Mermaid surfaced by the longboats. "Eat a whole bushel of apples."
The Mermaid looked around and saw no one, but there was a new longboat and three sets of footprints. Two led to the right and one set followed off to the left. The Mermaid considered her options of whether to take on one person or two.
She then smiled. Why try to track them down when she could ambush them at the one place she knew they'd return to?
So The Mermaid swam a few metres back and hid behind one of the Pearl's longboats, readying herself to strike.
Philip crept carefully through the cave. There was treasure, water, more treasure, the occasional stain of blood that made him quite nervous, even more treasure, but no way into the center were Elizabeth stood totally at Barbossa's mercy.
Finally, Philip hit a dead end.
He sighed and looked to his right. To his surprise, there was an opening large enough to see what was going on, but not large enough to climb through. Philip peered through the opening and surveyed the room, hoping that he could see some sort of entrance inside. He felt so powerless as Elizabeth was shoved forward and Barbossa picked up the knife.
"Begun by blood," Barbossa ended his speech as the pirates chanted encouragingly. "By blood undone."
Elizabeth tried not to show fear as Barbossa forced her palm open and thrust the medallion into it. What would happen to her when the blood didn't work? Would she be safe? Would Will?
Barbossa drew the blade across her palm, and Elizabeth gasped.
"That's it?" Elizabeth asked in disbelief as he forced her to clutch the medallion.
"Waste not," Barbossa simply said.
The medallion dropped into the box and the pirates went silent.
The Mermaid heard the silence fill the cave, and couldn't help but feel curious. She looked around and - finding the coast was clear - scampered onto shore.
As her tail transformed into legs, The Mermaid collapsed to the ground. But this was the moment they had all been waiting for for so many years. How could she miss it? She forced herself to climb on her hands and knees up to the very same spot Philip, Will, and Jack had occupied not too long ago.
The pirates closed their eyes and waited in silent anticipation.
And then… nothing happened.
The pirates looked down at themselves expectantly.
"Did it work?" Koehler dared to ask, voicing the question on all of their minds.
"I don't feel no different," Ragetti replied.
"How do we tell?" Pintel asked.
Barbossa rolled his eyes, pulled out his pistol, and shot Pintel.
The Mermaid let out a loud screech of horror at a man she held so dear, willfully harming one of the only men on the crew who had ever been nice to her. She would definitely be having words with Barbossa later, and so help him if he had actually killed Pintel...
The screech did not go unnoticed, and Jack the Monkey clambered over to The Mermaid. When he found her, he settled on her shoulders and chattered to calm her down. Something about the monkey trying to soothe her worked on The Mermaid, and she was able to see how the bullet had not harmed Pintel.
"You're not dead," Koehler sounded shocked, and even a little disappointed.
As The Mermaid's eyes flashed black momentarily, she decided that she would still be having a little talk with Barbossa when they returned to the ship.
"No," Pintel sounded as surprised as Koehler. Then what had happened clicked in his mind. Pintel looked at Barbossa in disbelief, "He shot me!"
"It didn't work," Ragetti moaned.
"After all we've done with Fi- The Mermaid, and he shoots me!" Pintel exclaimed.
"The curse it still upon us!" Twigg shouted.
Barbossa held up the blade and inspected the blood. The answer easily clicked in his head.
Philip watched the scene in amazed horror. Pirates who couldn't die? Well that explained all those reoccurences on the night Port Royal attacked. But still, Philip couldn't believe what he was seeing. There was no such thing as magic, and yet there it was before his very eyes. Surely God couldn't let such supernatural events occur.
But Philip had little time for an existential crisis at the moment, as the most immediate worry was what to do to get Elizabeth away from these pirates.
"You, Maid!" Barbossa turned back to Elizabeth. "Your father! What was his name?"
Philip's eyes went wide. He hadn't really expected too much that his theory of Elizabeth using the name Turner was actually true. Yet it was confirmed by Barbossa and Elizabeth's next words.
Why on earth had Elizabeth not listened to his father's all too often repeated advice to use the fake name Becky Skylark? It was like Philip was the only person in the family who actually consistently listened to his father's experience. Even his mother often disregarded his father's advice despite Nathaniel being the only one in the family with real world adventuring experience.
Build one schoolhouse in Mauritania, and suddenly Rebecca Swann thought herself an adventurer.
"Ok, focus, Philip." He had to remind himself. "Your cousin is literally about to be murdered in front of you. Your mother issues can come later."
"Was your father William Turner?" Barbossa shook Elizabeth by the shoulders.
Elizabeth smirked at him in victory, "No."
The Mermaid's eyes blackened at the revelation. Elizabeth had lied to her?
...Okay, It made sense why, The Mermaid had to admit. And now she understood the reason why Elizabeth had hid the name Philip. Still, the betrayal stung The Mermaid who had perhaps dared to hope that she would finally repay her debt and maybe even have gotten a friend out of it.
"Where's his child?" Barbossa demanded. He pulled the bloody coin from the chest and shook it in front of Elizabeth's face. "The child that sailed from England eight years ago? The child in whose veins flows the blood of William Turner?"
The words hit The Mermaid like a physical blow. Barbossa had never mentioned that particular detail before. In an instant, The Mermaid knew: the child that they had been looking for was not Elizabeth, but rather the very boy The Mermaid herself had led to safety all those years ago.
How could she have been so foolish?
Philip wished he had someone to physically restrain him as he watched Barbossa strike Elizabeth across the face for refusing to answer. Instead Philip was forced to practice self-restraint and reminded himself he could not take on two pirates by himself, let alone more than fifty. He scanned every nook and cranny of that cave, and prayed to God for a way to save Elizabeth as the pirates began arguing amongst themselves.
It was then he saw it: the pool next to where Elizabeth laid. Philip grinned and wondered how to get to her. As if an answer from God, Philip watched Will surface and wake Elizabeth. His cousin looked shocked, but followed Will's sign to stay quiet. Elizabeth quickly grabbed the medallion.
Philip watched in relief as Will and Elizabeth began to sneak away from the pirates. When they had safely left the cave, Philip dashed off to meet them at the longboat.
Unfortunately, someone else also saw the escape.
The Mermaid's eyes narrowed in on Elizabeth as a brunette man led her to safety. Blinded by the feeling of betrayal, she instructed Jack the Monkey to return to Barbossa with news of the escape. Then Mermaid dashed into the water, and returned to her previous spot to wait among the boats.
Elizabeth knew something, and The Mermaid wouldn't let her go until Elizabeth answered what.
"What are you doing here?" Elizabeth fearfully asked as he led her by the arm back towards the longboats. If the pirates knew Will was here… She made a note not to use his first name until they were safely out of the cave.
"Rescuing you," Will answered. He wished his heart would stop fluttering uncontrollably, but it was the first time he was facing Elizabeth with the knowledge that she loved him. "It's a long story."
Elizabeth groaned, "I'm truly thankful for the rescue, but I'm going to scream the next time someone utters those four words to me. You have absolutely no idea how often I've heard them without any explanation over the past few weeks. So either start explaining or don't bring it up at all!"
Will grinned as he brought Elizabeth to a halt in front of the longboats, "Alright, the truth is Philip and I were unsatisfied by Norrington's plan for your rescue, so he and I sprung Jack Sparrow out of jail, stole the Interceptor, gathered a crew of pirates in Tortuga including Joshamee Gibbs, had a strange encounter with a prostitute that almost made Philip cry, and came to rescue you. Also, Sparrow used Philip as a projectile again."
Elizabeth raised a brow at Will, "If you don't want to tell me the truth, just say so."
Will sighed, "I wish I could say I was lying."
The Mermaid grinned as she bobbed underwater. She was submerged up to just underneath her eyes, gleefully waiting for her prey. Though part of her whispered in her mind to hold back, not attack her friend. Do whatever she had to to the man - the Mother Goddess knew The Mermaid had paid for it the last time she refused - but she didn't need to injure one of her only friends.
After all, it wasn't like Elizabeth had betrayed her; just Barbossa and the crew. But the bond between Elizabeth and The Mermaid had been genuine trust and friendship... right?
"Come now," Elizabeth shook her head. "Philip Swift breaking a pirate out of prison? That would never-"
"Elizabeth!"
Elizabeth looked up in shock as Philip came running towards her, and wrapped her in the tightest hug she had ever received.
"You're safe," Philip sighed into his cousin's shoulder, silently praising the Lord. "Oh, Gracious, Giving God. Thank you so much for my sister's safe return."
Seeing the loving embrace Philip was giving his cousin, The Mermaid couldn't help but pause. She watched the scene in curiosity at the man Elizabeth had told her so much about actually existing. Love was a word The Mermaid knew of, but watching the way Philip held his cousin The Mermaid knew she was truly seeing it for the first time.
"You came," Elizabeth pulled back from Philip's bone crushing hug. Tears of joy glittered in her eyes as she grinned in disbelief at the men. "You actually came. Both of you."
Then something hit her.
"Wait," Elizabeth frowned. "You two had an encounter with a prostitute?"
"A scarring conversation only," Philip assured her. "You know Turner would never let anything happen to me."
The Mermaid shot up at the name Turner. Could this other man before her be the one they were looking for? She squinted and thought back to the boy she had once saved. He very well could be, and if so, she wasn't going to let him out of her grasp this time.
Unfortunately the sudden movement made a loud splash that echoed throughout the cave.
"What was that?" Philip looked around for the source of the noise.
Elizabeth's eyes went wide, "We have to go! Now!"
"What's going on?" Will asked.
"Trust me, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Elizabeth insisted, "Now come on! We have to leave. Before their… creature gets to us."
"Creature?" Philip repeated incredulously. "There's no such thing-"
Elizabeth slapped a hand over her cousin's mouth, "Believe me, there are things in this world that your little bible left out. You have no idea the horrors I have seen this past month, and the only reason I have survived this long is because I tricked one of the stupid monsters into thinking I care about it. Now let's go before it gets us."
The Mermaid startled at the cold words. Stupid monster?
Will and Philip exchanged a nervous and disbeliving look.
"Okay, escape now, questions later," Will agreed.
"Lots of questions," Philip nodded. "And it's not just my bible-"
"We are not doing this right now, Philip," Elizabeth cut him right off.
"Right, sorry. Escape time."
The Mermaid seethed as she watched Elizabeth prepare a longboat with the men. How dare she? After all that The Mermaid had done for Elizabeth, it had just been a trick? The Mermaid wanted to feel angry at the revelation, but instead she only felt heartbreak. As her heart winced - Elizabeth's cold words playing over and over in her mind - any kindred The Mermaid had felt for the woman was gone in that cruel act.
And then she decided: the gloves were off and all three of the figures before her were fair game. No, The Mermaid wasn't allowed to harm Elizabeth, but that didn't mean The Mermaid couldn't help someone else do it. And as for the men... May the Mother Goddess have mercy on their souls.
"Wait!" Elizabeth ordered as Philip and Will began to push the longboat into the water. "Grab the oars; I have an idea!"
The boys grinned at her, and the trio ran from boat to boat, collecting the oars. The Mermaid watched carefully, though she knew Elizabeth was at least suspicious that she was near. But The Mermaid wasn't about to stop them; she would let them get a little bit out of the cave and then flip their boat. It was easier to stall them for the pirates in the water where The Mermaid had the advantage than on land where they did.
"The medallion!" Barbossa's roar made the trio freeze in horror. "She's taken it! Get after her, you feckless pack of ingrates!"
"Go," Philip looked to Will and Elizabeth. "Quick, before they get here. I'll hold them off."
Philip's words made The Mermaid pause again. Had he really just said that?
It seemed Elizabeth and Will didn't believe they had heard it either.
"You're not serious, Philip," Elizabeth gaped at him. "You can't fight them off."
"She's right," Will agreed. "I would be the better choice."
"No you wouldn't! We all know the pirates are after you," Philip urged them forward. "I might be able to play the sympathy card with being religious, but they'll kill both of you if you stay."
"Philip, I won't go without you!" Elizabeth's eyes were filled with tears.
"Send Uncle my love," Philip kissed her forehead and looked to Will. "Go! Now!"
Will nodded and pulled Elizabeth into the boat. As Philip helped them push off, the voices of the angry pirates getting ever closer.
The Mermaid watched Philip in amazement. Elizabeth's words ran through her head in a dizzying fashion.
Selfless. Honest. Loyal. Protector.
Different.
He truly was.
The pirates were mere seconds away, and The Mermaid looked between Elizabeth and Turner in the longboat disappearing out of the cave and Philip standing ready to face the pirates on land. And then she made a choice that would change her entire life.
The Mermaid grabbed Philip by the ankle and yanked him down, trying to draw him into the water.
Philip cried out as he was slammed to the ground. He kicked backward at whatever had him and felt his boot slam into the face of whatever it was. The Mermaid hissed loudly and instinctively swiped her claws back at his face, but missed when he ducked and slammed his shoulder into hers.
The two struggled unseeing each other for a few minutes. Finally, as The Mermaid was forced back against the shore (though still submerged in the water) Philip drew his blade and plunged down.
His blade pierced her tail. The Mermaid had nowhere to go.
Philip looked up. His eyes briefly did not take in the scene as he was blinded by the victory of the moment. But when his eyes met that of The Mermaid's, they both felt as if they had swallowed a cube of ice.
The Mermaid was staring up at the green-eyed boy who had haunted her memories.
And Philip was staring at the tailed girl who had haunted his dreams.