WARNING: EVERYTHING FROM HERE TO THE END OF THIS STORY IS PUBLISHED POSTHUMOUSLY. CHECK THE PROFILE FOR MORE INFORMATION. THANK YOU.

Chapter 28

(JACK'S POV)

Jack had never been more glad on knowing they were close enough to Shipwreck Island that they would be able to pass the Devil's Throat after noon, which meant that they would be on the island in four to five hours.

He was tired; it seemed that he had lost himself in all those months… It was like he didn't know himself anymore, nothing more than a shadow of the famous Captain Jack Sparrow. He maybe was still witty, still able to come with impossible plans that no one else could have made, but he wasn't the same. Where was the Jack that would run away at the first sign of battle? Where was the Jack that looked only after himself, instead of the person worrying about a woman that had murdered him (albeit, he had deserved it back then) and worried of a man that had wished his death?

Jack sighed and took a rather large gulp of rum.

"Damn pagan gods." he murmured.

Yes. It was the fault of the gods, particularly two, which had made Jack suspicious that, even if Calypso had told him that she wanted revenge on the pirate lords, it was in some cases not about revenge but about god problems… It meant that Calypso and old Poseidon were at some kind of war and they were the pawns of their game.

As they arrived at Shipwreck Cove, Jack told Gibbs to give the crew their part of the money and took Miriam with him. They walked the streets of the city together and, after some asking, Jack went to his old house.

Just as he entered the door, he heard some conversation in the living room and he went towards there, hearing his father and Elizabeth discuss on what Vane had been apparently searching: A magical dagger, the philosopher's stone, and William's heart, which he almost had in those moments, as he had the chest with him.

He came back to the conversation as Teague shook his head, letting out a tired sigh "But how is all tha' related with Vane killin' the captain of the Flying Dutchman without gainin' a thin' for himself?"

Elizabeth sighed, shaking her head, without knowing the answer, and he decided to interrupt from behind, followed by Miriam, who looked at him with curiosity.

"It's related because that damn Vane made a little deal with old Poseidon."

Elizabeth turned, and seemed prepared to scream at him, but was speechless when she saw him and her eyes widened "Jack!" She got up off the chair.

It was then that Jack realized that Elizabeth was very big and bulky where she had been definitely plain the last time he had seen her. She looked good despite everything; she was a bit sweaty and seemed to have some trouble moving around, but she looked happy and Jack felt a bit guilty because of the news that he was bringing.

"Hello, Lizzie" he smiled, biting his lip a little and then, jokingly, he added "I see that pregnancy fits ye like a glove."

"Jack…" she warned, narrowing her eyes "I'm this 'close' at hitting you."

"Come on, Lizzie… Don't overdo it… It won't be good for the baby." he teased a bit.

His father laughed at that, getting up and patting his son on the back "Son, it'll be better to treat her majesty good." Jack made a little bow and raised his hands "Now… What's all tha' ye have said about Poseidon? And who is the little lass?"

Jack gulped a bit and grimaced "None of ye is goin' to like this part."

Elizabeth paled a bit, but asked anyway "What have you done, Jack?"

Jack shrugged a bit "Get in trouble, of course, what else is new?" he snorted at his own comment and sat on one of the chairs "Before ye decide to kill me or chastise me or whatever, I want to say I had little choice."

Elizabeth frowned a bit, but sat at his side "You encountered Vane, didn't you? What happened?"

Jack looked her straight in the eye, all serious, and Elizabeth took a deep breath at that "He has the chest." he answered.

Elizabeth gasped at that "Jack… You don't mean…"

Jack nodded once and Elizabeth seemed to sink on her chair, breathing heavily. Teague clicked his tongue.

"He doesn't have the key, yer majesty… He can't command the Dutchman nor kill yer husband." Teague commented.

"Yet." she replied to that and then turned to Jack "How did you escape?"

Jack pointed to Miriam "With Miriam's help… She was hidden and was able to free my crew and get to rescue me…"

Elizabeth seemed to frown "But how? Don't get me wrong but she's so… young."

Miriam pouted at that "I'm ten and right here!" And then she bit her lip, as if doubting, but spoke once again, in a whisper "And I'm… I'm a half-mermaid. I used my powers to enchant most of them so we could run away."

Teague just shook his head "Ye, Jackie, really have the goddess of luck's favor…" He seemed to take a deep breath "We need to find Vane and kill him."

Jack grimaced at that "We can't outright kill him… I mean, we can, but it would be better for James, and for me apparently too, to let Vane face justice in Port Royal. That's what the governor from there wants, anyway."

Elizabeth blinked at that "Jack… Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you working with the Navy?"

Jack snorted "I don't have much of a choice, luv. There's a goddess out for blood and after Davy Jones and the locker, I assure ye that I don't want a repeat of dyin'."

Elizabeth slumped at that "What does she want? What can she hope to gain?"

Jack shook his head "I'm not exactly sure, but she probably wants to protect the territory that is hers from Poseidon… Vane is being used by this one with the promise of immortality and we have been mostly press-ganged by Calypso to work in her favor. She won't lose something that is finally hers, so she'll use us as much and as many people as she wants to."

"So… Whatever Vane is planning right now, is something that Calypso doesn't want." Teague commented "Well, first, we must find where he is or where he'll be in a near future. Then, we must prepare at least three ships… Counting myself and Jack, if we can procure another Captain willing to fight for this cause, we can win against Vane and we'll be able to leave it to ye Jackie and the other lad." He then turned to Jack "By the way, if ye're really doin' this… If ye're really renouncin' yer title… I think ye have to give the lass what ye promised her."

Jack made a surprised face and sighed "Right. I had already forgotten about that…" he reached a strand of his hair and took out a coin from it. He turned to Elizabeth, who was watching him with wonder in her eyes and rather a bit sad. Jack smiled a bit "Don't ye worry, Lizzie, I can take care of myself mostly and ye did promise to accept me back if somethin' goes wrong." Elizabeth nodded at that, agreeing completely to his terms and Jack couldn't avoid being fond of her in that moment "This, Lizzie, it's a pretty Spanish coin called 'maravedí', which is my piece of eight as Pirate Lord of the Caribbean and which now I passed to ye. Now, ye are completely the Pirate Lord… Well, Pirate Lady more likely, of the Caribbean."

Elizabeth smiled as he passed the coin to her "Thank you, Jack." and then she reached out to him and hugged him as best as she could "Thank you very much, Jack. I really don't deserve you as my friend."

Jack patted her on the back lightly and let go a bit to smirk at her "We can always be more than friends, if ye don't like that…"

"Jack!" she exclaimed, punching him lightly at his shoulder "You are so indecent!"

"Guilty as charged, yer Majesty." he smirked even more openly and Elizabeth shook her head.

"Let's plan how to capture Vane and get the chest once again… The other objects are partly important but, without the chest, Vane can do nothing with them." Teague spoke up.

"I don't believe I'll be able to convince you two to let me fight, right?" Elizabeth asked, grinning a bit.

"Yer majesty, ye are pregnant and in approximately two months, ye'll have a baby… Ye're not goin' anywhere near a ship even if I have to tie ye up in a bed, understood?" Teague said, rather sternly.

"I'm the King! Isn't that against my power or something?" she asked, frowning.

"Aye, King of Pirates, luv, remember? One, we don't care much about politics unless it's necessary and two, ye are of no use to anyone if ye die." Jack replied

Elizabeth sighed "Amazing. I have to trust a bunch of pirates to possibly save my late husband."

"Don't ye worry. We can win against our mutual friend Vane." Jack smirked a bit. "Teague wants him dead. I want him dead. Now we just need another person that feels the same way. How hard can that be?" Both Elizabeth and Teague heaved a sigh at that "By the way, didn't ye have news on the Pearl?"

"Ah…. Yes… About that…" Elizabeth started.

• ──────────── ✾──────────── •

(JAMES' POV)

James was glad to go to sleep the moment everything finished. The pirate crew from Vane were kept in one of the cleanest cells that Port Royal had and they were told that they would be let out only on occasions and always accompanied by lieutenants and, though they weren't exactly pleased, they were at least thankful that they would not die.

James let out a sigh as he turned in his bed thinking about Vane having a deal with some pagan god to reach immortality and having a magical dagger, the philosopher stone and wanting to get William Turner's heart. He told himself to speak with Admiral Holland the next day to try to make him talk.

When the morning came, James was already awake. He had barely slept at all, his images filled with Elizabeth crying, William Turner dead, and Vane laughing in his ears.

Tired, but determined, he dressed himself and went to have a quick breakfast. As he finished, he left his house and went to the Admiral's office… Though he wouldn't be admiral for long; Holland would probably be rewarded with a court martial and demotion, if he wasn't directly hanged for his actions.

The office was guarded by some lieutenants, who saluted him quickly and opened the door for him.

He found the admiral sitting on his chair, lazily looking through the pages of some book and governor Trelawny already in the room.

James nodded briefly to the governor before resting his eyes on the other.

"Mr. Holland." he greeted, and was almost proud of the glare he gained at that. It wasn't yet official, but he would obviously lose his title as admiral and the commodore will most possibly be promoted "How are you on this fine day?"

This one snorted "I've told you yesterday, Mr. Norrington, and I'll say the same today. I won't speak about anything. You cannot make me do so."

James raised an eyebrow "Really?"

Both of them knew that James could just get permission to send someone to torture him in order to gain the information, as it was legal… As strong as Holland was, he wouldn't be able to bear more than two or three hours of torture and it didn't seem as though the governor was going to stop him at that.

However, James knew that he wasn't a fan of torture and though he admitted he had gotten results out of it on some occasions, he hated putting it into practice and he couldn't help but also remember how Jack had reacted to the possibility of doing that when they'd encountered Villanueva. Apparently, he hadn't been a fan either, which was weird of someone who was a pirate and a captain who would probably be bound to discipline his crew at least once.

"There's nothing you can protect anymore, Mr. Holland. You are going to be judged and your title will be taken from you if you're lucky…" He risked a glance at the governor but it looked that this one was not going to interrupt him "What can you gain from withholding information from us?" James truly asked.

Holland looked up from his book, passing the pages between his fingers.

"To be honest? Just pure self-satisfaction which I guess it shouldn't be more important that getting Charles Vane hanged…" he shrugged, unapologetically, and James just stared at him "In any case, his crew already told you mostly everything. He did tell me that he wanted to gain immortality but, after he asked about the chest of that cursed captain… Well, I assumed his goal was becoming Captain of the Flying Dutchman." The governor looked at Holland with an incredulous look, but Holland didn't seem to be paying any attention to them "What more do I know? Oh, yes, according to him, Elizabeth Swann is a pirate and also one of the 'Pirate Lords' or whatever… Ah, Vane also wanted Sparrow's compass and some revenge against him and, seeing as neither of them are here, I assume that they are encountering each other. Oh, and thanks to Beckett's diary, I know where Shipwreck Island is."

"Shipwreck Island?" The governor asked "That's great! The officers that were in that battle failed to specify where it was."

James grimaced a bit to himself. If they conquered the island, they would gain a place that was a fortress and that was a symbol for pirates… However, on the other hand, these same pirates would be condemned to death and Elizabeth wouldn't want that, as she was their main protector (in name, at least)... Jack also had his father there and did seem fond of the place (though it was clear that he also tried to avoid going there).

'What a mess…'

"Well then, Mr. Holland… I can't say that I won't take your station from you but if you give this information, your punishment will just be going back to England. You won't have your title and won't gain it back, but you won't be court martialed in public and will be allowed to leave to England quietly." the governor nodded to himself, as if proud of his own idea "What do you say?"

Holland smirked at that and James gulped.

"Very well, governor. Bring me a map."

'... I am doomed.' James thought.

When Holland finished pinpointing exactly where Shipwreck Island is, the governor tucked the map in his coat, pointed to James so he would follow him and only told Holland that he would have to stay in his late office until he could take care of everything for him to leave quietly for England.

Despite not exactly liking what governor Trelawny had done, James followed him out of Holland's office and the governor nodded to him so he would keep up and they reached in the end the governor's office.

"Well… This a rather change of events, don't you think, Mr. Norrington?" the governor smiled "Shipwreck Island in our hands… That would make us have a land that can hold a blockade for years if the Spanish or if the French decide to strike us… I will give you a ship, and I guess you can choose some crew for it… Oh, it will be so wonderful!"

"Sir?" James questioned a bit and he cleared his throat, trying to make himself speak "What if… What if we reached an agreement with the… inhabitants of the island?"

"Pirates reaching an agreement?" Governor Trelawny raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe not them, per se but… If Holland was telling the truth, Elizabeth Swann is between them and though is now supposedly a pirate and a Lord between them, she's still the late governor's daughter and was raised as such…" he tried reasoning. He also knew that Elizabeth was King of Pirates and it would be easier for the men to listen to her "She obviously has some power with her."

"Do you mean that we should convince her to convince the inhabitants of the island?" this one asked with a sigh "I guess that it could be possible, though she would need to be married to have any real power… But if the pirates listened to her, I guess we could reach an agreement to control their island and to them still have their freedom and their right to live there." James nodded at that, in understanding "In any case, you would need to go to that island it seems… You can take some men with you… I would have suggested the Commodore, but he's on a different mission still and we cannot waste more time. Besides, maybe you will encounter Vane and Captain Sparrow on the way and help him if he's in trouble."

"I guess so, governor. If it's what you wish, I'll speak with as many men as possible and try to be ready by tomorrow." James spoke, remembering himself of his position.

"Good, that's good." the governor nodded, satisfied and James was going to leave the office when this one spoke again "And Mr. Norrington?" James turned "If they don't do it the easy way, you'll have to do it the hard way. Is that understood?"

"... Yes, Governor. Understood." He nodded once, grimly.

He prayed that he wouldn't have to use the hard way at all. He didn't know if he would be able to.