Birds of a Feather

The Curse of the Black Pearl

Chapter Nine

Stick to the Code

Philip could not believe his eyes: after this time it was the tailed girl. Though he had only caught a glimpse of her on that fateful day eight years ago, Philip knew deep down that it was the same girl.

Had she had been created by the Lord – rather than some creature of darkness Philip assumed – he would have expected the Holy Father to have designed The Mermaid to be an angel. The Mermaid was the most beautiful woman – or rather creature – that he had ever seen. She had certainly grown well since their last meeting.

It still appeared that she was roughly the same age as Elizabeth, though that could be some trickery Philip reasoned. Mermaids could age at a different rate than humans. No matter her age, The Mermaid was still a breathtaking creature. She had flawless pale skin, and her curves were well-defined but not distractingly large. Her full lips were a dark red and her long brown hair was black and straight from the water. The red tail Philip had long debated the existence of, beat powerfully in the water as his blade pinned her in place.

Then he saw them: two hazel eyes staring up at him in fear and agony.

Philip looked back down at her tail and realised the sickening reality of what he had done. She was thrashing her tail in pain as blood streamed from her stabbed fin. Horrified by his actions, Philip pulled his blade out of her.

He could not believe that he had wounded an innocent girl… Even if she had technically attacked him first.

The Mermaid stared at Philip. Slowing her breath, carefully she looked at him thankfulness, though she was still terrified. Every man The Mermaid had ever met had harmed her in some way. Even Ragetti and Pintel had not been kind to her in her first year aboard the Pearl. It was why Elizabeth's stories of her cousin had fascinated The Mermaid. A man who used violence to protect and never harm was unimaginable to The Mermaid. It had given The Mermaid hope that maybe the world was not as cruel as the figures of her past had taught her. Maybe this Philip could have truly been good to his core.

But as the blood flowed out of her injured fin, The Mermaid felt the dream slip away. Had she been wrong about this man? Was this Philip not meant to be different?

Then again, she had been the one who first made contact by pulling Philip to the ground and trying to drag him in the water. It would be silly to think he would understand why she was doing it. She understood that he only acted out of self-dense.

The guilt was overwhelming to Philip. He had not intended to harm anyone, but stabbing The Mermaid had been an act of self-defence. Surely she could understand that?

Philip opened his mouth to explain when suddenly an arm wrapped tightly around his neck. He choked loudly as he was yanked by the neck to the ground.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" a shorter pirate with a bald head demanded as he held Philip down.

Philip wheezed, his hands scratching at the pirate's arm to pry them from his throat, but the grip was tight. Feeling helpless, Philip turned to his last resort. He sent a pleading look to The Mermaid, silently begging her to call the man off. More pirates were swarming onto the scene, shouting about the missing oars. Some gave Philip a strange look but said nothing as the bald pirate held him down.

"Fins!" a tall pirate with what looked like a wooden eye rushed over to The Mermaid. "Did the mean man hurt you?"

He was at her side in a second, tenderly looking her over. The Mermaid was smiling widely at him, trying to hold back the pain. Every few seconds she would glance curiously – and even, dare Philip may hope, worriedly – at the Governor's nephew.

"I... I'm sorry," Philip choked out. "I didn't mean to..."

But he didn't have the breath to continue.

The Mermaid met his eyes and nodded. Despite the fact he was being strangled to death, Philip felt a sense of relief and a touch of a smile to his lips.

"I'm fine, Ragetti," The Mermaid assured the man.

"You don't look fine," the pirate holding Philip glowered at the clotting wound on The Mermaid's fin.

"I'll be alright," The Mermaid reiterated. "I can still swim, Pintel. Look."

The Mermaid weakly thumped her tail against the bottom of the water. Though the wound still stung, The Mermaid would be more than alright.

"You did this!" Pintel tightened his grip on Philip's throat despite the fact the missionary had nearly gone purple. "And now you'll pay!"

"No," a voice boomed. The group turned in surprise to face Bo'sun who had a furious expression. "He shouldn't be here, so he knows something about Miss Turner's escape and our missing oars. Take him to the Captain."

Ragetti and Pintel shared a devious look.

"You're right," Pintel agreed, releasing Philip as his face was turning purple. "I'm sure the Captain will want to punish you himself. He's very protective of our little mermaid."

Philip did not like the way Ragetti chuckled excitedly.

Unceremoniously, Philip was yanked to his feet by Bo'sun who twisted one of Philip's arms behind his back and forced him forward. As Philip was marched towards the main part of the cave, he couldn't help but take a glance back at The Mermaid. She was watching him with something of a nervous expression.

"Now you stay right here, Fins," Pintel gently ordered The Mermaid. "Ragetti and I will be right back to tend to your wound after we've dealt with your attacker."

"He's not my attacker!" The Mermaid objected.

"But he hurt you," Ragetti looked lost.

"Because I hurt him!" The Mermaid explained. "You don't understand! I'm the attacker! It was self-defence!"

"You must be delirious from the pain," Pintel said. "It's alright. Stay here. Relax. We'll be back soon. I promise."

The Mermaid gave a low hiss as she watched the pirates leave. This wasn't fair. The boy had only come to save his cousin, and now we would face the wrath of Barbossa.

Spurred mostly by his guilt, and some semblance of fatherly affection he wouldn't admit, Barbossa never allowed anyone to harm The Mermaid and live to tell the tale. In fact, the only reason Twigg and Koehler had survived their harassment of her this long was simply that they couldn't die. The Mermaid honestly suspected that Barbossa would kill them the minute the curse was broken. In fact, she wasn't sure why he had chosen to shoot Pintel rather than one of her tormentors.

But Philip Swift was completely vulnerable to Barbossa's fury. Philip would be dead upon the floor before the hour was up; The Mermaid was sure of it.

No. The Mermaid decided. Not if she had anything to say about it.

And with the determination of a hellhound, The Mermaid dove into the water and swam through the familiar channels of Isla de Muerta as fast as she could.

"Not more pirates," Elizabeth groaned as she surveyed the crew of the stolen Interceptor.

Deciding she needed a familiar face, Gibbs stepped forward, "Welcome aboard, Miss Elizabeth."

"Mr. Gibbs?" Elizabeth was shocked… though truthfully not too much. She was disturbed by the irony that Gibbs had once warned her not to attract pirates to their ship and now he was one. But honestly, after everything that had happened over the past few weeks, Elizabeth was just done with all the surprises and wanted to go home.

"Hey, Boy, where be Jack?" Gibbs asked as Will joined Elizabeth's side.

"Jack?" Elizabeth looked at Will in disbelief. "Jack Sparrow?"

"Did you believe I was lying to you?" Will questioned.

Elizabeth sighed, "To be honest, I was hoping you were. Breaking a pirate out of prison doesn't sound like something Will Turner and Philip Swift would do."

"I would do anything for you, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth felt her heart flutter at the tender words. This Will Turner before her was far bolder than the one she had left back in Port Royal. Could it really be because of her?

"The question remains," Gibbs interrupted. "Where's Jack? And your friend?"

Will and Elizabeth looked down sadly to the mention of Philip.

"They fell behind," Will admitted. "Come, Elizabeth."

"No," Elizabeth pushed away as Will urged her forward. "No, we have to go back for Philip! We can't leave him with them!"

"We don't have a choice."

"Will's right," Gibbs agreed. "We keep to the Code. Any man who falls behind is left behind. Blood relation or not."

He looked back at Anamaria, and gave her a nod. Will urged Elizabeth forward as Anamaria began shouting orders.

"Are you alright?" Will asked her when he noticed that she was shaking. He couldn't tell whether it was from cold, pain, shock, or something else.

"Will, I can't do this," Elizabeth continued to plead. "I can't leave behind Philip."

"Then we won't."

"We won't? We're going back?"

"Not at the moment," Will explained. "Listen to me. I know where this island is now and thus I can lead people here... Although it took an absurdly long time to get here."

"Apparently the answer is magic."

"What?"

"It's a long story," Elizabeth waved off for the moment. "What are we going to do, Will?"

"I'm going to get you home safe to your father, and then we'll get Norrington to bring his men to save Philip. We will get him back. I promise you, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth looked back at the island, "I just fear it might be too late."

"The girl's blood didn't work, did it?" Jack Sparrow's voice rang out as Bo'sun dragged Philip into the main treasure cave.

Philip swallowed as he heard Barbossa instruct the pirates to hold their fire. Not only would he have to face Captain Barbossa for attacking The Mermaid and freeing Elizabeth, but Philip would also have to face Jack for he and Will's betrayal. Frankly, Philip didn't know how Will had disposed of Jack, but Philip bet whatever the method had been, Sparrow would not appear too happy with Philip.

"You know whose blood we need?" Barbossa asked, unnoticing as Bo'sun entered with Philip.

Jack smiled, "I know whose blood you need."

"I might know it too," Bo'sun threw Philip at Barbossa's feet to everyone's shock. "The Mermaid found this one by the longboats."

"Well, what do we have here?" Barbossa chuckled as Philip tried to gracefully graced himself and return to his feet. "A friend of yours, Sparrow?"

"A treasonous piece of scum," Jack glared at Philip. "You'd get along well together Hector. But alas, not the Turner you're looking for."

"Is that right?" Barbossa raised a brow in disbelief. "As I see it, he looks very much like the Turner we're looking for. Right age, has similar colouring and build to Bootstrap-"

"I hate to correct you, Hector," Jack interrupted. "But Old Bootstrap was much broader than this skinny whelp."

"Well then," Barbossa turned on Jack. "If he's not the Turner that you've dragged along as a bargaining piece, who is he and what's he doing here?"

"My name is Philip Swift," Philip boldly answered. "And I came to rescue my cousin, Elizabeth Swann."

The pirates gathered looked at each other in surprised and chattered quietly as Barbossa took in Philip's words.

"Elizabeth Swann?" Barbossa stated in disbelief.

"Yes," Philip nodded. "She's the daughter of the Governor of Port Royal, who is my uncle. She gave you a fake name because she thought you were after ransom."

Ragetti frowned, "But I thought she said Nathaniel Swann was the Governor's only child."

"Nathaniel Swann?" Philip frowned. "No, Nathaniel Swift was my father, and Swann is the Governor's family's name, which was my mother's maiden name. Her father is my mother's brother."

"Then why would she call herself Turner?" Barbossa questioned.

"It's a common name," Philip nonchalantly shrugged. "It was either that or Smith."

Jack winced and muttered to himself, "Of all the random names, you had to pick Smith, didn't you Swift?"

Barbossa eyed Jack and then turned his attention back to Philip, "Interesting story, Mr. Swift, but why do you know her reasons for choosing Turner?"

"He helped her escape," Pintel answered. "She's gone, with all our oars. He helped her escape, and he hurt Fins in the process."

"Stabbed her in the fin, he did!" Ragetti called.

Barbossa's eyes darkened, and Philip felt the urge to take a step back had Bo'sun not been standing directly behind him.

"You're certain this boy is no Turner, Sparrow?" Barbossa asked.

Jack considered his answer. He could be a decent person for once and lie that Philip was indeed a Turner, hence saving the poor Cleric for a moment until Sparrow could come up with another masterful plan that saved himself, the boy, Bootstraps' son, little Miss Swann, and returned the Black Pearl into his possession.

… On the other hand, Swift had worked with the real Turner in a plan the ended with Jack getting an oar to the face.

"He's no Turner," Jack confirmed.

"Good."

Without a second of hesitation, Barbossa pulled out his pistol, placed it to Philip's temple, cocked it, and began to squeeze the trigger.

"NO!" The Mermaid's voice rang out to everyone's shock as she suddenly emerged from a pool. "DON'T!"

Even more to everyone's surprise, Barbossa actually stopped.

"Oh, thank you Lord," Philip whispered. He had been so certain he was about to see his parents and Aunt Kat again. "Praise be to your mercy."

"What are you doing here?" Barbossa demanded to The Mermaid. "You were supposed to be keeping guard so the girl didn't escape!"

"I tried my best," The Mermaid insisted. "Please, you can't kill the boy."

"Bloody hell, Hector," Jack gave a low whistle. "You got yourself a trained mermaid? You don't see that every day."

"I can't kill the boy?" Barbossa looked at his mermaid in disbelief, completely ignoring Jack. He was surprised to find fear in her eyes. "Why not?"

The Mermaid looked over at Philip nervously. He was staring at her with open mouth shock... and a gun still to his temple.

With an injured tail, it had taken The Mermaid much longer than she expected to swim into the main cave. It was only her determination to save his life that brought her to the scene just in time. At least Elizabeth had been honest about one thing; Philip was different. He had only done everything to save the cousin he loved, and it was not right to let him die for that.

The only question was how could The Mermaid possibly save him without compromising her own image? Her image which was the only thing standing in the way of the crew daring to try unspeakable things on her.

She was left with one choice: the same choice Elizabeth had made against The Mermaid to save her own life.

Betrayal.

"Because he knows where Turner is," The Mermaid announced.

Philip paled at her words. How did she know? But the answer was obvious. The Mermaid had been the thing Elizabeth was afraid of. The source of the splash. The thing Elizabeth was sure Philip would never believe her about. But the thing that scared Philip was that The Mermaid had heard the entire conversation where Elizabeth called her a stupid monster, and what was worse, she knew what Will looked like.

"He does?" Barbossa scowled at Philip, not quite buying it enough to lower his weapon.

"Yes," The Mermaid affirmed. "He did not come alone. There was another man with him, one he called Turner. A man who looked every bit how I've heard Bootstrap to be described. Turner took Elizabeth and the oars, while this Philip stayed behind to give them a chance. I tried to go after them, but he prevented me, and I was injured in the process."

Philip frowned. The Mermaid's words didn't make sense. He had not blocked her way, rather she had been the instigator. Why would she say otherwise.

Wait a minute. Was The Mermaid lying? But why? To protect herself? It just simply didn't add up.

Whatever the reason, he suspected Elizabeth had been quite far from her mark of calling The Mermaid stupid. The Mermaid was a master of detecting and delivering subtle signals. The only question was what was the signal she was giving him?

"Well then," Barbossa turned to Philip, "it seems it's your lucky day. Tell me the boy's name and where to find him. Once we get a drop of his blood and the medallion, then I'll let all three of you go on your merry way. How does that sound?"

"It does sound tempting," Philip admitted. "But as a man of the Lord, I know better than to make a bargain with the Devil. You're a pirate, and therefore I cannot trust you. Turner is my best friend and I'll never give him up to you. So do what you want to me. Kill me, torture me, starve me, make me your prisoner. I don't care. I will never betray the ones I love. Even if it means they go free while I die among pirates."

Barbossa chuckled, "We'll see what you say about that in a few hours. Boys? Take him."

Those were the last words Philip heard before everything went dark.