A/N: Alright, you guys asked for it, so I will oblige. Dead Men Tell No Tales is going to be a part of this story. There will have to be some tweaks, mostly Carina's father is going to be someone different (you'll figure out who very soon,) the Henry storyline will be a little different for reasons you will not find out why anytime soon, people will actually acknowledge the fact that Henry is Will and Elizabeth's son (that bugged me so much,) Jack will actually be in-character, and I've actually constructed a replacement for the whole compass thing that I will sprinkle throughout the story as that continuity error bugs me so much, and this idea is so much better. Also, yes, the random character named Swift in DMTNT that has absolutely no connection to Philip even though they share a surname will be played with in connection to Philip.
Oh, and for the people who are going to guess that Philip and Syrena are going to be Carina's parents, I will admit I considered it, but then it would have meant the Henry/Carina romance was incestuous. Technically they would only be second cousins, and second cousins did get married in that day and age (I've even acknowledged that with a passage about Philip and Elizabeth,) but it would weird out all the characters involved as well as my audience.
And no, the fact I made Will's mother be named Sarah Smith, doesn't mean she's going to have a connection to Carina Smythe. Carina's mother is an unrelated character named Abigail Smythe (yes, I changed it from Margaret just because I wanted to) and Sarah Smith was only called Smith because I thought it would be fun if Jack was running around the Caribbean using her name. Plus I named her years before DMTNT came out.
Now, on with the chapter that I have literally been waiting years to write. Finally, I reveal Syrena's story.
Birds of a Feather
The Curse of the Black Pearl
Chapter Fifteen
The Mermaid's Tale: Part One
My story begins I guess where all stories begin, with that of my birth.
I do not know who my father is. Once my mother mated with him under the light of the full moon, she and our sisters descended upon the man and ate him. It is the way of the mermaids.
I do not know who my mother is either. When a mermaid gives birth, their daughter is given to the group as a whole. All mermaids raise the young ones together, teaching them to fight, seduce, survive, and above all, to never cry. We were one big family and a mermaid calls all the mermaids of the world their Sister.
I was always the smallest mermaid in our family, a fact my sisters would not let me forget. Our leader, Tamara would often say that I was so fragile that it would have been better if as a baby I had been left on shore to dry out.
…Why do you look at me with such horror, Philip?
But it was through these words in which I found strength. Every day I fought hard to prove my place among my sisters, and I dreamed of the day in which Tamara would bestow me with a name. Then I would have proven I earned my spot in our sisterhood.
Mermaids keep track of their ages by the moon cycles, and all mermaids are born under a full moon. Young mermaids are forbidden from breaking the surface as they have not been trained hard enough to protect themselves against our worst enemy: humans.
…Though admittedly sharks are a close second.
When one hundred and twenty moons have passed, a mermaid takes her first swim, breaking the water's surface for the first time. She goes up at dawn and returns to the sea and her sisters at dusk. The sisters celebrate her accomplishment and their leader – Tamara in our case – bequeaths the mermaid her name.
Night after night, I watched the moons wax and wane and counted the cycles until it was my turn to prove myself. I could not wait to take my first breath in the salty sea air and hear my beautiful name upon Tamara's lips.
Then finally, the day came: my 120th full moon.
At dawn I readied myself, and bid my sisters farewell. With the eagerness of only a naïve youth, I raced to the surface and dramatically emerged, taking a deep breath with my eyes closed.
That was when everything went wrong…
No sooner had she broken the surface than she found a heavy metal net thrown over her. A roar of triumphant laughter filled the air as the net was pulled tight and The Mermaid was dragged toward a longboat sitting nearby.
"I got her! I got one!" a lanky man with a wooden eye cried out. He pulled The Mermaid with the help of a short bald man.
"Pull her in! The Captain is going to going to be so happy with us!" the short man grinned. "Just think of the reward."
The Mermaid didn't know what to do. This wasn't supposed to happen; not on her First Swim. Was this a test her Sisters put forth? Was she supposed to prove herself by escaping?
She thrashed in the net, biting, clawing, and hissing frantically, but she couldn't claw her way through metal. There was no way out.
"Help! Help!" The Mermaid called in the language of Mermaids, which to humans sounded like nothing more than high pitched shrieks.
But no matter how loud she yelled for help, her Sisters would not come. The First Swim was when a mermaid proved herself, and a mermaid did not allow themselves to be caught in a net. There was nothing The Mermaid could do as the pair of men dragged her towards their boat and pulled her in.
Her Sisters left her to her failure and her fate.
"Got her!" the bald man exclaimed in glee. His companion was bouncing with excitement next to him.
But then the men's grins fell when they looked upon the Mermaid fully for the first time.
"She's just a little one," the wooden eyed man frowned. "Probably just on her First Swim. Should we throw her back?"
"She's not a fish! We can't just throw her back and get another one. Besides, a larger one would probably eat us."
"It's not right keeping a little one! What if her Mummy's looking for her?"
"Mermaids don't have mothers! And we need a mermaid, or do you want to be cursed forever?"
The Mermaid hadn't said a word; she was too shocked at her First Swim having gone so wrong. How could she have been so weak? Captured the first time she broke surface? And even more terrifying was how with every second that passed her tail slowly transformed into a pair of legs. It was the first time she had ever done that, so the process was significantly slower, but sure enough her red scales were smoothing into skin, her fins into feet, and her tail splitting into two small legs.
"Look!" the bald man pointed to her, the pair finally noticing the transformation.
The Mermaid breathed heavily, her eyes wide with fear as her body turned into that of a ten-year-old girl. Instinctively, she balled herself up to hide her burgeoning breasts and the foreign private area between her legs.
'Do not cry,' she thought to herself. 'Do not cry. Do not ever waste your tears. Do not cry!'
It appeared that the men at least had some semblance of propriety, for the next thing The Mermaid knew, they had wrapped a blanket around her.
"Don't be afraid, Little One," the wooden eyed man said pulling the blanket tight around her. "We're not going to hurt you."
The heavy metal net baring down on her said otherwise.
"Yeah, we're just going to borrow you for a little while and bring you right back," the bald man promised. "How does that sound?"
She had an opportunity.
"NO!" The Mermaid slashed her claws across the wooden eyed man's face. He had been sitting closest to her.
He stumbled back in pain and The Mermaid threw the blanket and net off her. She turned and moved to jump back in the water, but the bald man tackled her to the floor of the longboat.
"Sorry, Little Fins," the bald man shoved cloth over her mouth and nose. "But we need you, whether you like it or not."
I fought hard against Pintel, but the cloth was doused in some sort of liquid. The scent of it filled my nostrils and I felt weaker and weaker until finally… I passed out.
It was a terrible beginning for Ragetti, Pintel, and myself, but we have resolved our past. It was not hard to do so. Even from that first moment, they did show me kindness, and they continued to do what they could to look out for me. I was not conscious for this, but when I was brought on board they hid my legs and convinced Barbossa to keep them a secret for my sake. I was very young and the crew… we are pirates and some are not honourable towards women. I am not sure if there is a child lover aboard, but it was better not to take a chance.
When I woke several hours later, I was chained to the wall in this very room. The room did not look as it does on this day, back then it was the cabin of the First Mate. Barbossa's former room, and the room of his First Mate, Bo'sun.
I may admit with some… mirth, that Bo'sun does not appreciate that I have since taken his cabin. It truly is a humorous sight to see him in a hammock.
Do not tell him that I said this.
In that day, this room had a bed, a small table – the same table that remains in this room – that shelf by the window, the shackles upon this wall – which had been newly added to restrain me – and a tank of water. Not this grand case with more than enough room to swim, but a small glass coffin with no holes to breath.
…Yes, Philip, I do require oxygen to live, not just water. Even fish need oxygen… I think. The science of marine biology is not exactly an area in which I am knowledgeable. And besides, your species does not let women aboard ships, and executes women as witches for pursuing scientific research. I have not had many opportunities to read up on the subject.
Anyways, I woke in this room, chained to the wall, immersed in the coffin, which had been shoved crudely against the wall. Standing before me were four men, who I would later learn to be named Ragetti, Pintel, Bo'sun – yes, that is his actual name – and Hector Barbossa.
"Begging your pardon for the chains, Miss," Barbossa said as The Mermaid tried to fight against her shackles, "but after the way you attacked Master Ragetti, we thought it be best you be confined for the safety of yourself and the crew."
"Who are you?" The Mermaid demanded. "What do you want from me?"
"That which mermaids do best," Barbossa grinned.
The Mermaid's eyes widened, "You cannot! I have not performed the First Hunt. I cannot-"
"It not be your body we be after," Barbossa corrected in an oddly warm tone. "As proud a moment it would be to lie with a mermaid and live to tell the tale, you're a might young for my tastes."
"And we're not into watching that sort of thing," Pintel chuckled.
"We're not?" Ragetti frowned. "But didn't we used to watch Smith?"
"I meant when the Captain was involved!"
Barbossa and Bo'sun just looked at the duo.
"Not that we wouldn't be honoured to see our brave Captain prove himself in such a venture," Pintel quickly said as if the problem had been over doubting Barbossa's prowess.
"You do have quite the stamina, Captain," Ragetti added.
Bo'sun looked to Barbossa, "Keelhauling, Captain?"
"Maybe later." Barbossa turned back to The Mermaid, "The thing a mermaid does best is swim, and that be what we be needing from you."
"You want me to swim?" The Mermaid frowned.
"My apologies for all of this, Miss, but we're in a bit of a mess that you're going to help us get out of. We've… left something at the bottom of the ocean that we be needing back immediately."
"What exactly did you lose?"
Barbossa told me everything: the curse, the blood to be paid, and what they had done to Bootstrap Bill Turner. I did not doubt a single word, for ocean curses are as mundane to my kind as the turn of seasons are to yours.
The terms were simple, I would go down and collect Bill, then they would return me to Whitecap Bay and my Sisters.
"And you swear you will let me go free?" The Mermaid asked.
Barbossa nodded, "The second Bill Turner is standing on my deck, you are free to do as you please, Miss… I don't believe I caught your name."
"I do not have one," The Mermaid coolly shot. She jerked her head at Ragetti and Pintel, "Those two captured me upon my First Swim. My name has not yet been bequeathed."
Barbossa glanced warily at Bo'sun but said, "My apologies. I'm sure you'll get a nice one upon your return. We'll be back in less than a month."
"A month!" The Mermaid exclaimed.
"Sea travel takes time, but you will return to Whitecap Bay. You have my word. Now do we have an accord?"
The Mermaid thought it over; she was ten years old and trapped on a ship of fifty grown cursed pirate men. What choice did she have? They had promised to feed her and not bother her on the voyage, and her task was rescuing a poor soul trapped on the bottom of the ocean. That sort of thing would make the Mother Goddess proud.
"Alright… I'll do it."
It sounded like a simple deal, and a noble one at that. An easy way to commit a great honour.
But unfortunately for me… things didn't go according to plan.
"He's not there!" The Mermaid exclaimed up at the ship.
She was tied to a long chain, and the Black Pearl was anchored in the same spot they had left Bill Turner some months ago. The crew was gathered at the side of the ship, watching The Mermaid. She had been under the water for nearly three hours searching for Bill but had come up empty.
"He has to be there!" Barbossa called to her. "Look for the cannon!"
"I found it, but he's not there!"
Barbossa's face blanched and he looked to Pintel and Ragetti, who were holding her line, "Haul her up, and bring her into the cabin."
"What do you mean you found the cannon?" Barbossa demanded as they entered The Mermaid's cabin.
"I found the cannon," The Mermaid repeated, Ragetti setting her down from carrying her in. It had been very tricky to hide The Mermaid's legs, but they had managed. "But there was no man tied to it."
"Are you sure it was the right cannon?" Barbossa asked.
"How many cannons are at the bottom of the sea?" Ragetti murmured to Pintel, genuinely curious.
"Quiet!" Barbossa snapped. He looked to The Mermaid, "Well?"
"It's identical to the others on this ship," The Mermaid replied. "Ragetti and Pintel showed them to me. It's the right cannon, but Bill Turner is not there. He's been claimed."
"Claimed?" Barbossa's jaw hung open a little. Though he knew the answer, he demanded to know, "What do you mean claimed? Claimed by whom?"
"The collector of souls lost at sea," The Mermaid's answer seemed so obvious to her. "Bill Turner has been claimed by Davy Jones."
There is something you must know to understand this next part: mermaids and Davy Jones have a very long history together. Our origin is tied to his, and our paths ran alike. It is a long story, and not relevant at this moment, but perhaps someday I shall tell it to you if the need should arise.
All you need to know at this moment is there is nothing in the worlds of land, sea, life, or death that Davy Jones loves more than a dead mermaid.
"Claimed by Jones!" Barbossa kicked over the same table. "I don't believe this! We go through all the trouble of getting a mermaid, and Bootstrap is not there? No! No, I won't let this happen! We will break this curse!"
"But how?" Pintel asked, careful that his inquiry didn't sound like he was doubting the Captain.
"Smith has a child by Turner," Barbossa thought out loud. "That's why she left our company. I don't know if it's a boy child or a girl, but Bootstrap sent the medallion to Smith and their child. Out there is a child with both the blood and medallion of Bill Turner, and if it's the last thing we do, we're getting both! Not even Sarah Smith will stand in our way."
"Aye aye, Captain!" Pintel cheered.
"It's a shame about Bill, though," Ragetti said. "It would be so much easier to just ask Jones for Bootstrap back."
Barbossa's eyes snapped on The Mermaid. She frowned and took a clumsy step backwards. The Mermaid did not like the look on Barbossa's face.
"You might be onto something there," Barbossa grinned.
Suddenly his arms were on her, and The Mermaid screamed as he wrestled her into the glass coffin.
"No! Stop! You promised to let me free!" The Mermaid tried to fight against the much bigger man. He wasn't causing her pain, but he did easily overpower her.
"I promised to let you free when Bill Turner was standing on my deck, and I don't see him onboard," Barbossa forced her down into the coffin and slammed closed the lid. "Apologies, Miss, but a mermaid be the perfect bait to attract Jones. He'll sense that there's a mermaid in distress, and it'll draw him here to finish the job. Then I can trade you for Turner."
"No! No! Please! You promised!" The Mermaid screamed as Barbossa shoved Ragetti and Pintel out the door. "You promised to let me go!"
"Take this as a lesson learned, Girl," Barbossa said. "Never trust a pirate."
He slammed the door shut, and thus her imprisonment began.
I did not stop fighting for that first year. Every time the door opened, whether it was Barbossa or my two checking on me and feeding me, I fought. I scratched and hissed and did all I could to get away. But it was to no avail. Every time they caught me, fought me off, and a new type of chain would be added to the wall.
Barbossa will never admit it, but I think he did start regretting his actions that first year. He got me a bigger tank and checked on me, frequently asking me questions about my upbringing and mermaid culture and anything to keep a conversation going. I think he was remorseful over how young I was, and what he had done to a child. But no matter how much I begged or fought him, he would not let me go. I am proud to say that I did not shed a tear during my imprisonment, but that does not mean I was content.
When he got Jack – the monkey, Philip – he came into my room and introduced us. He told Jack that he was not allowed to hurt me and asked me to name him.
"Name him?" The Mermaid glared at the monkey. "You stole my opportunity to be named, and now you ask me to name this creature?"
"It was just a request," Barbossa shrugged, trying to not show any emotion. "I thought you might have a few things you'd like to call him."
"No, but I certainly have some things to call you," The Mermaid spat.
Barbossa sighed, "Look, we've been at this for months. I just need you to lure Jones, so I can get Turner's blood and break my curse."
"I am sorry you could not yet trade me as your property."
"Maybe it doesn't have to be that way. I'll try and think of some other solution. I'm a reasonable man."
The Mermaid laughed.
"What can I do to make this better?" Barbossa asked.
"Release me."
"Other than that?"
The Mermaid paused to think, "…Name me."
"What?" Barbossa blinked.
"Name me," The Mermaid repeated. "Name me as you would name this creature."
"I… I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Because then the crew would think I'm getting attached, which I am not."
"I see," The Mermaid watched the monkey run across the floor. "So, am I to be the first entry into this… exotic pet collection you are gathering? A mermaid, a monkey… what next? A goose?"
"You're not my pet."
"No… just your prisoner."
That was the first time I asked Barbossa for a name. At first it was out of anger that he had robbed me of my name, but eventually it became more. I needed to be more than the Creature or the Mermaid.
… No, Philip. I did not end up giving the monkey the name Jack.
Could we focus?
My only companions at the time were Ragetti, Pintel, Barbossa, and Jack, whom he would leave in my cabin sometimes so that I would not get lonely. He does that even now, when I am no longer his prisoner.
Ragetti and Pintel were kind to me, and we started developing a bond. They liked to tell me stories of their adventures – though I doubt the truth in most of them. According to Ragetti, your friend William's mother was utterly in love with him. But they told me tales of the seas, of curses, of mythology. They made sure I was safe, my tank was clean, and I had the finest food they could get.
"Thank you for your kindness," The Mermaid said one day as they scrubbed her tank. She was lounging on the floor, wrapped in a blanket, her wrists shackled to the wall. "Or as much of it you offer."
"It's not right what the Captain did to you," Pintel said. "He promised to let you go free, not that we would be compliant in holding a little girl hostage."
"Told you we should have thrown her back," Ragetti added. "Oh, it's a full moon tonight. I know you like to keep track of them."
"Thank you." The Mermaid sighed, "That makes twelve then. One year since my capture. My Sisters will have given up on me. Some First Swim I had."
"Is it true that the First Swim is on your tenth birthday?" Ragetti asked.
"I suppose it your terms, yes," The Mermaid answered.
"Happy birthday, then!" Ragetti said eagerly. He nudged Pintel, "We should get her something."
Pintel rolled his eyes, "You know the Captain wouldn't let us."
"The Captain doesn't need to know," Ragetti tried to sound snooty. He looked at The Mermaid, "What would you like? A fancy dinner? A new blanket?"
"Don't say freedom," Pintel shot.
The Mermaid paused, "Well… there is only one thing I want other than freedom. A name."
"Well, that's easy," Ragetti said. "What should we call her?"
"No, no, no," Pintel shook his head. "The Captain will have our hides if we name her."
"It doesn't have to be a real name. Maybe just a nickname?"
"It'd have to be something that we could pretend we were talking about something else if pressed."
"I got it!" Ragetti exclaimed. "Let's name her Fins!"
And so, I became Fins.
Another year passed, and the crew was focused on hunting down the medallions. I heard many battles from the safety of my cabin. The Captain had gotten soft on my imprisonment, and there were long stretches of time he would let me wander my cabin unchained. During battle was not one of those times. I would be chained to the wall and left alone while the others fought.
But the Captain's softness would turn to my advantage one day. For you see, when I was chained, the keys were kept on a hook across the wall. Still in the room, but out of my reach.
One day, we were fighting a merchant ship and Pintel was shackling me. Bo'sun was rushing him out of the door, and in his rush, my shackle was not secured properly. When he was out of the room, I found I had a free hand.
I finally could escape.
Immediately, I shot a web of seaweed across the room and dragged the keys over to release myself. The next thing I knew, I was out the door, on the deck, and then finally… after so many years, I was in the ocean. I was free to escape.
I swam away fast from the Black Pearl, my heart guiding me down the path to Whitecap Bay. I ignored the bodies of the dead around me from the merchant ship, as hard as it was to do so. The magic of the Mother Goddess urged me to perform my species' original task, but I fought against it. These dead men and women didn't need my help. No one needed my help.
And then I saw him, a young boy, my age brown hair and eyes, pale skin, struggling to tread the ice-cold water.
I hesitated. This could be my one shot at freedom, but I could not tear myself away. Why should I help this person? A boy of all creatures? A male, whom it was against the laws of mermaids to save.
But he was my age, and he was struggling to stay alive. I knew that look in his eyes; it was the same look I knew had never left my eyes since my capture.
I had to save him.
The boy's head sank below the water. The Mermaid instantly shot into action, diving below the water and pulling him up. She held his head above the ocean and he looked her straight in the eyes.
Panic flooded her body; could she even save this boy? Could she still get away from Barbossa? Where was she supposed to take this boy? Had he seen her tail?
But still, she had made a commitment to save this boy, and she would see it through.
"Are you alright?" The Mermaid asked. "Do you need help?"
It was a stupid question. Of course he needed help; he was drowning.
A plank of wood saved The Mermaid from an embarrassing response. The boy pushed her away and swam for the plank. The Mermaid followed close behind, her tail beating powerfully as she made sure he got to the plank safely.
He reached it and struggled to pull himself onto it. The Mermaid held the other end to ensure that the plank wouldn't flip, or else she would have helped him on.
"Don't worry," The Mermaid said trying to sound as human as possible. Mermaids' voices had a certain music to it that made then stand apart – no pun intended – from humans. "I'll find help."
The Mermaid placed her hand on the plank, and a white glow emerged from under her palm: the magic of her people. Once she had removed her hand, the plank was under her control. It would follow her as she swam away from the battle in search of safety for herself and the boy.
After a while, she glanced back. The boy had fallen unconscious.
"Do not worry," The Mermaid whispered, knowing the boy wouldn't hear her. "I will save us."
It was hard to see in the fog, but The Mermaid swam hard. She was turning a thousand possibilities over in her mind when she heard it. Very soft, and very distance. A human would not be able it from her position, but mermaids could hear it plan as day.
"Yo, ho, yo, ho, a pirate's life for me."
It was a girl. Not just a girl, but a girl singing. Mermaids would use songs in their magic, so they were fine tuned to hear the lyrical voice of a female on the sea. The Mermaid could not sense any magic, so it was not a mermaid, but it meant there was something nearby.
The Mermaid followed the voice as it sung a pirate shanty. Abruptly, the song cut off, and The Mermaid looked wildly in the mist for several minutes for the source. Was this a trick?
And then she saw it, the bow of a ship. She had found them rescue.
The Mermaid was about to start forward when the thought occurred to her: she could save the boy, but not herself. These humans would kill her, no doubt. She would have to hide as she helped the human, and then escape before anyone saw her.
Carefully ducking underneath the plank, The Mermaid led it forward and waited.
"Look! A boy! There's a boy in the water!" the female voice shouted.
A minute later, a man yelled, "Man overboard! Man the ropes! Fetch a hook! Haul him aboard!"
There was a flurry of action from the ship, and a hook was nearly thrown atop The Mermaid. She had a moment of panic when the plank was hauled up, and she dived deep so no one would see her.
The Mermaid could have left him there, but she had to know if she had delivered him somewhere safe. The ship had come close enough to the wreckage of the burning merchant's vessel. The Mermaid found a new piece of wreckage and swam back to the ship. She held it against the side of the ship, swimming along, trying to figure out what was going on. She couldn't hear anything.
Finally, she decided to risk it a moment, and popped her head above the surface.
Then she saw them, two green eyes staring down at her.
I never forgot the sight of those beautiful but strong eyes, green like the sea… I must say, I prefer them much better up close.
…There is no need to blush, Philip.
The Mermaid felt drawn to the boy staring at her: light brown hair, suntanned skin, and wonderful green eyes that had widened when they saw her tail. But he had seen her tail, and thus she had to leave before he called out his discovery.
Unfortunately, saving Will – as I now know the boy in the water to be – I gave up my shot at freedom. I had barely gotten away from your ship when the Black Pearl caught me, and I was wrestled back into my tank.
Barbossa was furious and went into a rage.
"Don't you get it?" Barbossa hollered, locking The Mermaid inside the coffin as Ragetti and Pintel exchanged a pained look. "You are never escaping! Jones will come for you, and you will never go home! Never!"
That was a tipping point for me, for while Barbossa screamed that Jones would come for me, that was the moment I think when we both realized he never would.
Barbossa did not return to my cabin for months, and they were the worst months of my life. I had tasted freedom and I knew I would never achieve it again. So, I did what I had fought for so long to resist…
I gave up.
I stopped speaking, stopped swimming, stopped hearing stories, or acknowledging Ragetti and Pintel's presence. I tried to stop eating, but a hunger strike would never last. I would go three days before I gave in and ate. I think it was mostly from how desperately Ragetti and Pintel pleaded me to do so. But I refused to fight any longer; I had finally given up.
And as it turned out… So had Barbossa.
The door to the cabin creaked open, but The Mermaid didn't even lift her head. She just lay on the bottom of her tank barely even blinking.
Heavy footsteps filled the room, and she recognized them as the bulky boots of Barbossa. What could he want from her now?
There was the clicking of a lock, and the creaking of hinges as the top of her tank was opened. Still, The Mermaid did not move.
Barbossa sighed heavily, then said, "Go."
The Mermaid blinked, "Go where?"
"Home… You're free."
The Mermaid frowned, refusing to move in case it was a trick. When nothing happened, she sat up and looked at him.
"Jones isn't coming for you," Barbossa finally conceded. "We had an agreement and I broke it. I apologise. Now go… and if you could, make a little bit of a scene so I can tell the crew you escaped."
I swam away and did not look back.
In any other story, this would be a happy ending. I would be reunited with my Sisters, be named, and live out my days among them. But instead, I sit before you here today, so the conclusion is easy to come to:
My return home to Whitecap Bay went terribly, terribly wrong.
A/N: For those of you worried that this is going to be another update followed by a yearlong hiatus, I would like to inform you that I have almost completed writing all of the COTBP segment and will be posting a new chapter every week until I run out. Beyond that, we'll have to see what the update schedule is like, but I do have every intention on writing all five movies.