A/N: Hey Guys, just wanted to clear up something a reviewer from the last chapter was confused about. Bill Turner cannot feel when Will is in pain. The whole reason Bill was feeling pain was he was whipped by the Bo'sun, and this was a big deal because until that moment the curse prevented Bill from feeling pain. Bill only knows that somewhere in the world his son was bleeding was because the curse had been broken, and therefore Will's blood must have been spilled. He was merely using logic to understand why the curse had broken, and it just so happened that when the curse broke he was being beaten.
So no, Bill can't feel Will's pain, the curse just broke at a really shitty time for Bill.
Birds of a Feather
The Curse of the Black Pearl
Chapter Thirty-One
The Burial of Barbossa
Syrena spent a long time crying tearlessly over Barbossa. No one disturbed her as she clutched her father's cold, stiff body and her heart ached like never before. Indeed, she had not felt a sadness this great since the day she laid upon the rocks of Isla de Muerta and waited for death.
Only this time there would be no Hector Barbossa to find her, take her into his arms, carry her away from those emotionless rocks, and hold her until everything was alright.
Syrena didn't notice when Philip crouched down next to her and touched her arms in a gesture of comfort. She didn't take in the fact he was the cause of her deciding to release her hold around Barbossa's neck and sit up. She didn't register his hands tenderly taking her arms and help guide her upright. What she did notice was when those hands went from slowly rubbing the sides of her arms to slipped around her shoulder. Gently, Philip pulled her into his embrace, letting her head fall naturally into the crook of his neck.
"It's not wrong to cry, Syrena," Philip whispered his father's words. "You cry as much as your heart hurts. The Lord did not give us tears to be ashamed of them; even Jesus wept for Lazarus."
He drew another breath to continue Nathaniel Swift's words but found himself cut off by another voice who knew them well.
"But when those tears cease find joy in knowing that your father is safe." Elizabeth surprised everyone when she knelt down at Syrena's other side and rubbed Syrena's shoulder.
The tears in Elizabeth's eyes were not for any affection toward the man lying dead on a mound of treasure. Her sorrow was for the broken-hearted mermaid who asked Elizabeth to look the situation through another's eyes. If it had been Weatherby Swann lying there… The sorrow stung in Elizabeth's tears.
"God has taken him to a world where he will know no suffering," Elizabeth shared a small look with Philip. He just smiled and gave a small nod to her. "I know it doesn't feel fair right now. Believe me, I truly understand what you're going through… but God only takes people when it's the right time to take them."
Her eyes flicked up at Jack Sparrow, who was watching the scene cautiously. Something burned in Syrena's soul.
"It was not your God who took him," she spat.
It unnerved Jack just how pitch black The Mermaid's eyes could turn.
Philip's hand involuntarily clenched Syrena's shoulder, and his eyes found Elizabeth's. Understanding, Elizabeth shifted her crouching position to be able to spring up easier if Syrena tried to attack Jack and Philip needed help wrestling the mermaid back.
Will watched the cousins knowingly and slowly moved in front of Jack to block Syrena's path. His hand rested on his blade. Will had spent the least time with the mermaid, so his sympathies were less strong than Philip's or even Elizabeth's. If someone had to step in and use more than gentle force against Syrena, not only would Will be the most capable, he would be the most willing.
As Philip's eyes flicked between Jack and Syrena, something terrible shifted in his stomach. He wondered if Syrena would truly attempt to kill Jack? Yes, she was a mermaid, but she had so strongly insisted that she was different than the others that surely she would never actually stoop to murder.
…Right?
"She did actually eat someone once a few years back," Pintel's words rang in Philip's head. "…We agreed never to speak of it again."
"That poor man," Ragetti had sounded so terrified.
Of course, Philip could never forget the sight of what Syrena did to Koehler as Philip had weakly pulled himself to his feet and grabbed that side table as a weapon. How Syrena had shredded the pirate's skin cruelly, and when the curse failed to sate her natural bloodlust, she had torn a chunk of flesh out of Koehler's arm.
What more would she have done if Koehler hadn't overpowered her?
Philip couldn't deny it, as much as he loved Syrena, she was made to be a killer. If she wanted to, Syrena would kill Jack Sparrow.
Silence clung to the cave as everyone held their breath waiting for Syrena to strike. Surely sorrow would turn to white hot anger at any moment, and they were all in proper position to try to peel off Syrena before she tore out Jack's throat.
A loud shriek broke the tension. Startled, Jack stumbled forward – having prepared to make a run for it – Will had started to unsheathe his sword, Philip's hand crushed down on Syrena's shoulder, and Elizabeth toppled over, having tried too hard to scramble to her feet.
But it wasn't the shriek of a mermaid, they realized almost instantly, which led to their abrupt stops and subsequent stumbles. Rather the shriek was that of a grief-stricken monkey.
Jack the Monkey had climbed off Philip's shoulder when he crouched down next to Syrena and Barbossa. Too focused on Syrena, none of them had quite noticed Jack the Monkey suffering immense heartbreak, desperately pawing at Barbossa, trying to shake him awake.
The ear-piercing shriek that echoed through the cave had been the moment Jack the Monkey finally admitted to himself that Barbossa was dead.
Syrena's eyes flew to Jack the Monkey in an instant, the sound of his cries catching her attention like a mother to her child's. She never thought of Jack the Monkey as her son or brother, but as the only two animals aboard the Black Pearl, Syrena and Jack had a deep connection. It was the same connection that led Jack to saving her in the pool what felt like a lifetime ago.
"Jack," Syrena softly called, her Jack focus redirecting from the Sparrow variety to the Monkey.
He screamed again and leapt off Barbossa's shoulder. In a fit of rage, he scaled the pile of treasure, shrieking and squealing in danger and grief. Jack pulled himself onto the top of the chest and pounded his tiny fists against the lid, though whether he was angry at the curse for taking Barbossa or Barbossa for up and dying, it was not clear.
Then, in what morsel of logic the (usually far more intelligent than anyone would admit) monkey had, Jack snatched a coin out of the chest and shrieked again. His fur molted and his form became cursed and skeletal once more. He stared at the body of Barbossa, expecting it to rise again. After all, the curse being on Barbossa made it so he couldn't die, so if Jack made the curse go into effect again surely Barbossa couldn't be dead and cursed at the same time?
But the body of Hector Barbossa did not stir.
As the realization that Jack would be the only one affected by curse slowly set upon the monkey, he exploded in rage. Jack the Monkey screamed and threw the coin back into the chest. He pounded his fists on the lid and squealed until the humans' ears began to ring. Furious at the treasure for not protecting his Master, Jack began to grab the coins out of the chest and hurl them into the water. Eyes turning to the audience watching, his temper narrowed in on the ones who had killed his Master, and Jack began throwing the coins at them.
"Jack!" Syrena had hit her limit when she and Philip started dodging the coins. "That is enough!"
Her feet were unsteady as she rose to them, and she felt Philip's hand reach to her back to balance her. But her conviction was strong enough to carry her legs, and with a slight wobble in her steps, Syrena climbed the treasure mound to the chest sitting at the top.
As Jack went to throw another coin at his namesake – the Sparrow variety of Jack had a few nice welts on his face from medallion impact – Syrena grabbed the coin from Jack the Monkey's paws and picked up the beast.
"I know, Jack," Syrena struggled to restrain the squirming monkey who was desperately fighting to get out of her grasp. She flipped him onto his back and cradled him in her arms like a baby. "I know. My heart hurts for him too."
The humans could do nothing be just watch as Syrena stroked the fur of the monkey, rocking Jack in her arms to comfort and calm him. She whispered to Jack words the humans could not understand, though whether it was the language of animals or just some language like Turkish or Albanian that both mermaid and monkey knew that the humans didn't, the humans couldn't tell. It took a while, but Jack settled down, burying his little face against Syrena's breast and whimpering like a baby in his mother's arms.
Philip's heart ached again as he watched the scene sadly. Though Syrena's words were unintelligible, the cadence of grief was too much to deny. The pair cried and mourned the man that no other in the world would. True, Hector Barbossa was a grizzled, likely evil pirate, but he had made that pair into the beings they were. Syrena was only different from other mermaids because Barbossa had chosen to rescue her from the very rocks he now lay dead upon.
The scene was so tragic that neither Will nor Elizabeth could find it in their hearts to intercede and try to make excuses for Barbossa's death. Philip, Will, Elizabeth, and Jack stood there in a dreadful silence, just watching. It was a sight that stole any words from their lips, and any thoughts from their minds and hearts.
…Although the re-cursed monkey did make Jack the Human vaguely remember that the monkey had been purchased by Barbossa after the curse had been laid on them. Jack wondered what possible logic Hector had to have the monkey take a coin and be cursed like the rest of them after they knew the effects of the curse. Also, what on earth had happened when they made the monkeygive his blood to break the curse?
Jack shook his head. And people thought the crew of the Black Pearl did weird things under hiscommand.
Syrena continued to whisper to Jack the Monkey, though no one could tell what. Whatever it was, Jack the Monkey and Syrena kept looking to Jack Sparrow. Little by little those words calmed Jack the Monkey, and though he continued to whimper in grief, he stopped struggling against Syrena.
"There now. Settle down, Jack," Syrena said in English.
Jack the Monkey gave a small whine but finally nodded and settled down in her arms. He trusted that Syrena's words had been true.
It wasn't the language of animals Syrena had spoken to Jack, but rather Arabic. A mermaid could speak any language as they needed to be able to charm their meals from sailors of any nationality. Arabic had become a favorite of Barbossa's after reading One Thousand and One Nights, and he hunted down some copies in the original language to read to Syrena to teach himself the language.
Jack the Monkey often clamoured about the room whenever Barbossa read to Syrena, so he eventually came to understand Arabic as well, though obviously he couldn't speak it. None of the other crew knew about their fluency of the language (or that Syrena could understand them in whatever language they whispered about her in) so Barbossa, Jack, and Syrena had come to use Arabic as a way of communicating when they didn't want to be overheard.
Barbossa had once offered to Syrena to let Ragetti and Pintel into the fold and teach them Arabic, but Syrena merely cited the disaster she had trying to teach them French, and Barbossa quickly dropped the notion.
Though she had varying degrees of affection for Philip, Will, Elizabeth, and Jack Sparrow, Syrena didn't want the others to understand her as she spoke to Jack the Monkey. Why should they understand the words of grief over Barbossa when they didn't understand her love for him? Sure, some of them may empathize, but it was clear Syrena and Jack the Monkey were the only ones in mourning for the Captain.
"I promise, Dear One. I promise," Syrena whispered in Arabic.
Jack the Monkey looked up at Syrena and screeched a question to her that she didn't need to know the language of animals to understand.
Syrena's eyes set on Jack Sparrow and murmured to the monkey, "إذا كان الصبر مُرًّا فعاقبته حلوة."
Jack Sparrow frowned, eyes darting from side to side as he considered the queer scene. He wasn't quite sure what was going on.
"So… are you going to try to kill me now, or what's happening?" Jack blurted out.
As Philip groaned and Elizabeth scowled, Will just rubbed his forehead and muttered something about how Jack never learned.
"No." Syrena lifted her arm to her shoulder. Jack the Monkey climbed up and settled on it. It was the result of one of the things Syrena had spoken to him. Barbossa was gone, so she would protect Jack the Monkey now. Indeed with her proud posture, she did quite resemble her newly late father in that moment. "We will not kill you for the death of my father."
"Oh." Jack blinked. He hesitated, but couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
Philip and Elizabeth rolled their eyes in unison.
Will just shrugged and said, "Told you."
Syrena gave Jack Sparrow a smile that didn't quite settle his nerves, "Because there is no one to blame but Barbossa himself. It was his actions alone that brought him down this path. Playing with magic, breaking the most sacred codes of honour, and burning the bridges he had with allies. There is a reason why the only one mourning at his body is a monkey and a mermaid who by all rights should not love him."
"I've found often in life the ones you shouldn't love are the ones you do," Jack looking quiet uncharacteristically sage. When he finished his sentence, his eyes found Elizabeth's and after a moment turned to Will's. He said nothing more, his point made in an equally rare for him moment of subtly. "There is, however, something that can be done if I'm not mistaken. Eh, Syrena?"
Syrena caught his meaning.
"Yes," she slowly dismounted the pile of treasure. "I believe there is. Philip, come help me get him into the water."
Philip frowned, but obeyed.
Jack the Monkey leapt off Syrena's shoulder as she and Philip gently moved the body to float in the water. Syrena splashed into the water and guided Barbossa where the pool started to get deep. No one but Philip followed, and even he kept his distance.
Syrena lazily swam through the water, guiding her father's body through the cave. When she exited the main grotto, she heard Philip no longer following her.
The world felt so still and quiet as she floated Barbossa through the cave. She reflected on what she had told Jack the Monkey; the promises of safety and explanations about Sparrow. Syrena felt the urge to cry, but now it was the time to be strong. There was nothing more she could do to bring Barbossa back; she could only help him with his next life.
She reached the mouth of the cave and came to a stop. Once more she stared down at the body of her father.
How long ago was it that he held her in his arms and told her to escape with Philip? Perhaps things would have gone better if they had. Would Hector now be dead? Was it her fault?
No. She knew with whom the blame laid.
Syrena took a deep breath. Jack Sparrow was right though, there was something she could do to save Barbossa. If not his life, then his soul.
"I love you," she whispered. Then she bent down and kissed Barbossa's cold lips.
All mermaids knew what happened to those who died upon the sea. They would end up in Davy Jones' Locker where their soul would be rescued by the Flying Dutchman and ferried to the Far Shore to begin their journey in the Afterlife…at least, that was what was supposed to happen. That was before Jones betrayed the Mother Goddess, and now the souls of those who died at sea drifted through the waters of the Locker unable to move on. Thankfully, the souls were not awake or aware of what was going on, but it was a terrible thought to float mindlessly for an eternity.
But the Locker wasn't empty; legend said there was a long stretch of land in it, a grand sandbar among the vast sea. And also in that sea was the Island of the Mermaids, a magical island that would appear half the time in the Locker and half the time in the world of the living. An island by the name of Isla Sirena.
Hence Jack's laughter when Philip had named her Syrena.
Syrena had never visited the Island of the Mermaids, but she remembered her Sisters tell the tales of the long stretch of sand that one could see off in the distance from their island.
If a soul reached the stretch of sand, they would be awake and conscious. Although if they made the mistake of then traveling to the Island of the Mermaids in hope of returning to the world of the living, the mermaids would tear them to shreds.
If they were lucky in their dealings on the sandbar of the Locker, it was said that perhaps they could find a way to get to the Far Shore. But most of the time, a soul would just wander the sandbar, reflecting on their life and the actions that brought them to that place.
Syrena's Sisters had told her that eventually a man would find something on that island. It might be a way to escape, it might be salvation or atonement, forgiveness or damnation, regret or surrender… it didn't matter what they found; they always found something.
It was a rarity for a soul to make it on the island without direct intervention. Syrena never did learn the usual qualifiers, though she believed it was the choice of the Mother Goddess. But her Sisters did teach her one guarantee: if a Mermaid kissed the lips of a human before they were buried at sea, that human would wake up on the shore of the Locker.
And it was that faint hope that she could help her father find salvation that kept Syrena strong… even when she let go of his body and watched it slip beneath the sea.
"Goodbye, Father," Syrena whispered. "I hope somehow we meet again."
She wrapped her arms around her own body, and as she fought not to let the tears fall, Syrena wished Barbossa's arms could hold her once more.
What she didn't know was that in a little under sixteen months, they would…
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. It's only so short because the next chapter was going to be too long if I included this in it.