Birds of a Feather

The Curse of the Black Pearl

Chapter Twenty-Five

Birds of a Feather

Captain Jack Sparrow grinned at the missionary and the mermaid like his birthday fell on Christmas.

"Philip Isiah Swift," he shook his head, "you surprise me with every turn."

"What the- Jack!" Philip exclaimed, leaping to his feet. He subtly nudged his shirt over to Syrena with his foot as she pulled herself out of the pool. "My middle name isn't Isiah!"

Jack squinted at Philip, "You have odd priorities, Preacher."

"Sparrow," Syrena had taken Philip's hint and put on the shirt. She wobbled unsteadily on her strange legs, but found Philip's arm soon wrapped around her waist to hold and stabilize her. Syrena leaned her weight against Philip and placed both hands on his bare chest as he held her close. The position was to help Syrena maintain balance, but also ended up looking quite like the intimate embrace of lovers. "How are you here?"

Jack shrugged, "I dunno? God? Evolution? The workings of a mythical sea turtle who carries the world on its back? The preacher here is probably best to direct questions of creation to."

"That isn't what I- Oh, forget it."

"It's alright," Philip squeezed her a little, like giving her a hug. "Sometimes it's best not to ask questions. At least of Jack."

"You're quite the swift learner, Phil part of Philiam. Although I have many questions about this," Jack gestured to the lovers' embrace. "Seriously Swift… how? Do you understand just how amazing and difficult a feat it is to tame a mermaid?"

She hissed at him.

"Syrena's not a creature to be tamed," Philip said coldly.

But that only entertained Jack even more, "Syrena? Do my ears deceive me? Am I to understand you've named the mermaid? And you called her Syrena of all things?"

Philip scowled, which depended at Syrena's blush, "What's wrong with the name?"

"Nothing, it's a wonderful name," Syrena assured him. "I love it. It's just… well, let's just say it might be a bit funny. I'll explain it later."

"Alright, but I do expect a quick explanation."

It would be years before he got an explanation.

"Look, Sparrow," Philip redirected his attention, "how did you outsmart Barbossa again?"

"And where is Elizabeth?" Syrena asked.

Jack frowned, "You know, I'd expect the reverse of who asked what question. Although, I get it. Meet a pretty girl, and suddenly family is not the first priority."

Syrena could have sworn Philip blushed.

"Besides, I'm not talking in front of that thing," Jack gestured to his namesake climbing onto Syrena's shoulder.

Jack the Monkey shrieked, and Syrena stroked his fur in a comforting fashion.

"Jack?" she cooed to the monkey. "Go to Barbossa. Do not tell him Sparrow has returned. I will take care of this."

Jack the Monkey screeched, hesitant over not telling Barbossa about Sparrow but trusted his friend. He jumped off Syrena's shoulder and disappeared back into the darkness to tell Barbossa that she was safe.

Jack Sparrow watched as the monkey scampered away, "I assume that direction was for that Jack and not me, otherwise the whole not telling Barbossa I'm alive thing is going to be hard to keep quiet."

"Sparrow," Syrena's voice was venomous, "how are you here?"

He crossed his arms, "You want the long version or short?"

"Short!" Philip and Syrena exclaimed in unison.

Jack scowled, "You know, my stories are fun."

"Not when Will's going to be killed any second," Philip shot. "Now what's going on? How did you escape?"

"I escaped because your cousin is conniving and a hater of alcoholic beverages and fun unless there is a song involved!"

Syrena frowned, "What does that-"

Philip cut in, "It means the island was a cache for rum runners until Norrington stamped those out, but luckily the supplies were still there, so Elizabeth got Jack drunk to distract him while she built a signal fire probably bringing my mother's pirate song into the mix. Now, what, the British armada is here to pick up me because Elizabeth's convinced them I'm being ransomed?"

Jack and Syrena stared at Philip.

"Whoa," Jack blinked. "I feel like I should applaud."

Philip sighed, "Sparrow, I was raised by the Governor of Port Royal, Jamaica alongside my pirate-loving cousin. I am well versed in Caribbean piracy politics and the inner workings of the brain of Elizabeth Swann. I've been genuinely expecting something like this ever since Elizabeth got dropped off on an island you allegedly escaped from using a raft of sea turtles."

"Sea turtles?" Syrena raised an eyebrow. "How would that even work?"

"I did not ask for a Mermaid Story Editor." Jack paused, "Although having a mermaid in my entourage might-"

"Never going to happen," Syrena cut off.

"Well, if you ever change your mind."

Philip shook his head, "Jack, could you just tell me what this whole plan you have is… assuming you have one."

Jack chuckled, "A mastermind never reveals all. I will tell you that Lizzie and I-"

"Please don't call her that."

"Have managed to get the Dauntless to come here with all its little soldiers to come fight the pirates and rescue you and Will. Of course, Elizabeth had to promise her hand in marriage to Norrington to secure that-"

"What?"

"Yeah. The Commodore's Plan A was leaving Will to die and wait for Barbossa to ransom you, Swift." Jack laughed, patting Philip's arm, "But don't worry, Phil. Lizzie and I weren't about to let Philiam turn to Philia."

Philip stared at Jack, "That not my poi- Oh, forget it!"

"Wait," Syrena's face was scrunched up like she was working through algebra problems in her mind. Considering her lack of education, algebra calculations were a significantly more complicated feat for her than most. "I thought Elizabeth loved Will. Why would she marry another man? One she does not love? Is that not the purpose of love?"

Philip regarded her with honest surprise, "Oh, so you genuinely don't understand how marriage works in the human world."

She scowled at him, but Philip didn't push the topic any further.

"I'll explain political marriages later. Anyways," Philip turned his focus back to Jack, "I feel like we've been talking, but not actually getting any information. Where is Elizabeth?"

"Back on the Dauntless," Jack answered. "I made sure that Norrington had her locked up in his cabin. Nobody even knows about the ghosts. Also your uncle thinks Elizabeth pretended to be Gibbs' daughter."

Philip and Syrena looked at each other in shock.

"I'm assuming the Gibbs revelation isn't the cause for that exchange of glances," Jack said quickly.

"They won't have a chance," Syrena whispered.

"It'll be a massacre," Philip subconsciously grabbed the cross around his neck.

"No, it's alright, Dear," Jack patted Syrena's shoulder. It was hard to tell if Philip or Syrena's look was deadlier. "I'm going to convince Barbossa to send his pirates out in the little longboats, and Norrington will have the ship open fire on them. Now, if you two don't mind, I have some theatrics to put on. Tah!"

And with that, Jack strolled out of the cave.

"This… is not going to end well," Syrena said.

"Yeah," Philip shook his head. "Norrington's not going to just follow a plan Sparrow pitched."

"No, you don't understand," she turned around. "Philip, if Barbossa sends the men out, they won't go in boats. They'll walk on the ocean floor and sneak up on the Dauntless from behind."

"They can breathe underwater?"

"They can't die, Philip. Oh, this is terrible for your people; not only will they see the curse they likely will not believe and the shock will handicap them, but it'll be a surprise attack leading to a massacre."

For a minute, Philip was impressed. It was no expert assessment, but apparently Barbossa had thought to teach his daughter some military tactics.

"Worse yet, Elizabeth's locked in a cabin with nowhere to escape." Philip looked to where Jack exited, "I have to stop him."

"You're right. We do."

Philip turned back to her in surprise, "We?"

"Yes. I will help you with this."

Syrena did not like the silence that came from Philip.

"What is it?" she narrowed her eyes.

Philip sighed and rubbed his face, avoiding her eyes, "Syrena, I… I think it's quite obvious at this point how I feel for you and vice versa… but I have to ask. Whose side do you fight on?"

Syrena took his hand from his face and guided it to his side. She smiled at him and brought her own hand to the burns on his face. Her fingers delicately ran over the wound that was too late for her to fix. Philip couldn't help but relax at that touch.

"Philip," her finger stroked his cheek as soft as angel's wings, "I care for Barbossa… I care for Ragetti, Pintel, and Jack the Monkey… But my loyalty is not with the men who caged me like a monster. It is with the man who rescued me from that cage and the notion of my monstrosity. My heart is yours Philip Swift, as is my service."

He smiled, "And mine is with yours… Syrena, you really are something special."

"Something different?"

Philip caught her hand on his face and he gently placed a kiss on it, "Something very different. God was having a good day when he created you."

Syrena sighed, "I just wish that I didn't feel like such an outsider from you and your kind."

"You know… Will always felt a little like an outsider when it came to Elizabeth and I. He would always say how could a Turner ever keep up with you birds? What even is a Turner? I wish I was part of the flock. So Elizabeth was determined to make him feel part of the flock. It took a long time, but one day she discovered that there is a famous ornithologist – a scientist who studies birds – by the name of William Turner. And as it so happens, William Turner had a phrase that came to comfort our own William Turner. Birds of one kind and colour flock and fly always together."

"I think I have heard that before, just worded slightly differently."

"The common phrasing is Birds of a feather, flock together." Philip smiled at her, "Though you have a tail, I think you, Syrena Barbossa are not a fish, but a bird. A bird of the same feather as the Swann you protected, the Turner you rescued… and the Swift you have enchanted more than any mermaid has ever charmed a man."

Syrena grinned that little mischievous smile Philip had grown to love, "I don't think that's necessarily a good thing."

"It's probably going to be as disastrous as Samson's love for Delilah… or his wife who he loved, but then took up a riddle wager on his wedding night, and long story short he lost her and ended up killing a thousand Philistines with a donkey's jawbone."

She just stared at him.

Philip shrugged, "Samson didn't handle romance well."

Syrena blinked, "Can we get back to the point?"

"Right." He took her hands in his, "What I'm trying to say is that Will, Elizabeth, you, and I are birds of a feather. So welcome to the flock."

Syrena chuckled and using her grip on him, tugged Philip close to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tilted up her head so her hot breath tickled his lips.

"You know, mermaids are half woman, half fish, and sirens are half bird, half woman. Perhaps," her lips ghosted over his, "I am more Siren than Mermaid."

"Siren, Mermaid, Human, or Goldfish, I don't care," he bowed his forehead against hers. "All I know is that my heart is screaming that God just might have made you to be the Eve to my Adam. Are you- Are you familiar with the story?"

"I have heard it," Syrena whispered as Philip became very aware that the only thing separating her bare chest from his was that thin, wet, and now rather transparent white shirt. "I have also heard it said that swans mate for life… What is it said of Swifts?"

A surge of passion that could only be attributed to the blood of Rebecca Swann flowing through his veins overtook Philip. He wove his hand through her drying dark brown hair and pulled her in for that kiss they both so craved. Syrena lifted up on her foreign toes and desperately pulled him towards her, lips burning for his.

Philip stopped an inch from her lips.

Syrena frowned and drew back, "What is it?"

An awkward look of apology and embarrassment clung to his face as the silence drew out for a minute. He then loudly cleared his throat and pulled back from her, but still held her close…mostly due to her arms being locked around his neck.

"Sorry," he made to tug at his collar only to remember that he had none. "It just very suddenly hit me that Will, my best friend for the last decade, probably has a knife to his throat right now."

"…Oh. That." Syrena let him go. She pondered the issue of her father's imminent act of murder, "We must save him."

"We?" Philip lifted an eyebrow.

Syrena scowled, "Did we not just have this exact conversation? If we repeat it, William Turner will long be dead by the time we finish."

"No, I mean that you've exchanged maybe two sentences with Will, and now you're going to save him by betraying the man you call father?"

"I will not betray him. Hector merely needs some blood; we do not need to cut Will's throat. And as for saving Will, well, I must. Must I not? He is part of my flock."

Philip smiled, "He is… And so is Elizabeth."

"Ugh," Syrena pulled a face. "Don't remind me."

"Oh, come on. She's a wonderful woman."

"And I agreed, until she betrayed me. We were having a perfectly lovely time on our way from Port Royal to here. Then she turns around and calls me monster and creature and acts like I am a thing of nightmares. Considering all I risked to keep her safe on that voyage, I very much did not appreciate the label."

"Yeah, I got that from when you attacked her." Philip huffed in exasperation, "Aren't you mermaids not supposed to harm women at sea?"

Syrena raised her eyebrow, "I think by now it has become quite obvious that I am not a model mermaid."

"Thank the Lord for that," Philip muttered.

Syrena smiled.

Her eyes fell to the cross around his neck, intrigued by the God he spoke of so reverently. She hesitated, and then let her fingers drift over the large wooden cross.

Philip could remember watching his mother do that during intimate embraces with his father when the pair thought they were alone.

He sighed, a touch of a smile to his lips, "So, what is going to be our plan?"

"Someone has to stop Hector from killing Will," Syrena said, "and someone must help save your men from mine. When the pirates surprise your soldiers, none of your British will be left standing."

"That might not be true," Philip reflected on what he knew of Norrington's tactics. "The Commodore would never just blindly trust Jack. He likely has sent out most of the soldiers in the longboats to surprise the crew of the Black Pearl. Norrington won't hear of any tales of the supernatural and likely does not have enough time to return his crew to the ship before the Dauntless is attacked. The best thing would to have someone slip onto the Dauntless and warn the crew before it happened."

"But Philip, how will you row a longboat past Norrington's men to get to the Dauntless? Wouldn't you be stopped and apprehended under the pretense of being rescued?"

Philip's expression told Syrena her answer.

"You want me to go to the Dauntless?" she shrieked.

"Keep it down before they hear," Philip hushed her. "But yes. You're a mermaid, you can swim underneath the longboats and sneak onto the Dauntless where you'll warn them."

"Philip, why would they even believe me? They'll have no idea who I even am."

"Elizabeth will vouch for you."

Syrena laughed.

"Come on," Philip said. "At the end of the day, Elizabeth-"

"Hates me and believes me to be nothing more than Barbossa's pet. She'll never believe me to actually try to help her."

"Yes she will."

"She didn't before."

"Well, she will now because I will vouch for you."

Syrena smiled, wanting to believe Philip's words, Philip's trust in his cousin, but Elizabeth's actions – the betrayal of the first person who had not been a captor that she honestly believed could be a friend – stung too deep. She wanted to be in Philip's flock, but she knew that a certain Cygnet would never let that happen.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Philip." She shook her hand, absentmindedly playing with Philip's cross, "But how could you possibly vouch for me to Elizabeth?"

Philip sighed and glanced down at her hands. He wanted them so badly back on his chest, not just fiddling with his cr-

"That's it," he realized. "That's how I'll vouch for you."

Syrena frowned.

Philip pulled off his beloved father's cross, which had hung almost every minute from Philip's neck for the last eleven years. Before Syrena could even comprehend what was happening, Philip had draped the cross around her neck.

"What are you doing?" Syrena scowled as he lifted up her hair, fussing with her appearance so the cross didn't hang so awkwardly on her.

"Wear my father's cross," Philip instructed as he gently took her arm and started to lead her out of the grotto. "Elizabeth knows what this means to me, as does Uncle Weatherby… who I very much hope is not on the ship, because how in the Lord's precious name can I explain this to him? Now please, Syrena, go to the Dauntless and save them."

"Philip," Syrena tenderly moved his hand from her arm and pulled them to a stop. She took a deep breath and looked down, "What if they see me? See what I am? Men of your kind do not understand, nor should they really. I am not a typical mermaid. If they found out what I was-"

"They would kill you." Philip hefted a sigh and tilted his head back to stare up at the ceiling, not turning to God as usual, but just taking a moment to process the problem. "Syrena, I… I don't know what to say. I just can't stay here, trying to help Will knowing that Elizabeth is in danger. If she was safe-"

"Then I will save her."

He blinked, "What?"

"I will save Elizabeth," Syrena said not necessarily flatly but certainly it had an emotionless element to it. She didn't say it out of affection for Elizabeth, but rather for Philip. "I will do it for the love you have for her, not the same love you have for me, but that of your love for Turner and the one you call God. I understand that love you have for her; it is that which I feel for Barbossa, Ragetti, and Pintel. So, if Elizabeth means that much to you, I shall protect her."

"Are you…" he took her hands. "Are you sure?"

She looked him straight in the eyes, "I vow this to you, Philip Swift. I will save Elizabeth Swann while you save William Turner, and I will keep myself hidden from those who would not understand what I am, so that I may return whole to you."

"Well, that… that sounds like a wonderful vow," his eyes were locked on her lips again. Philip wanted nothing more in that moment than to hold her, kiss her, touch her. Feel her skin on his as he experienced the passion he had heard so many lose their minds over.

"Philip?" she whispered.

"Yes, Syrena?" he breathed.

"I want to kiss you."

He bent his head down to obey her desire, but stopped when the thought occurred to him, "I… No. Not yet."

"What?" Syrena pulled her head back, completely thrown off her game.

"Not yet." He smiled and stroked her cheek, "Let's give ourselves something to look forward to. A reason to come back in one piece."

Syrena gave that coy, mischievous grin Philip loved so much, "Alright, I suppose I can partake in some delayed gratification."

She stepped back from him and walked backwards out of the grotto into the myriad of hallway-like passages of Isla de Muerta.

"I will return for that kiss, Philip Swift," Syrena called to him.

Philip smiled, "I'll be counting the seconds."

And Syrena turned and half ran/half stumbled her way through the darkness until she was out of his sight.

As he stared down the hall after her, lips stinging from kisses never laid and heart full of fear for his loved ones, Philip Swift could only think of one thing.

"Why the bloody hell did I suggest not kissing her?"

A/N: For the record, the William Turner quote is actually "Byrdes of on kynde and color flok and flye allwayes together." But I translated it into more modern language, because otherwise it looked out of place.