Jack sat in his dirty and dark cell. He felt like he was losing his mind. His injury had become infected, he missed his Black Pearl and also the company of his crew. The fever went to his head and he knew no way out, which really rarely happened.

He had recently looked at his compass, and what he had seen there did not please him at all. What he wanted most at the moment was the Pearl. His compass had revealed that the Pearl was approaching the Fortune at a brisk pace.

The door of his cell opened with a slight click of the lock and swung outwards. But there was no one. Involuntarily, Jack had to grin. He knew what that was all about and struggled to his feet, exhausted.

Soft-footed, he crept down the corridor towards the room where Tia Dalma was being held captive. Her two guards were sleeping on chairs in front of the door, and three empty rum bottles lay on the floor next to them. Jack entered the room carefully and quietly.

Tia Dalma was already waiting for him and a sympathetic smile spread across her face.

"Ye look bad, me little sparrow," she said in a whispering tone.

She motioned to Jack to sit in the chair next to her and he followed the instruction.

Curiosity had brought him here. He could have just closed the door of his cell and stayed inside.

Tia Dalma had closed her eyes, rocked back and forth and mumbled some words that Jack could not understand.

"What are you doing? Hocus-pocus?" he asked, insecurely.

She smiled.

"So young and strong and yet only a step away from bein' on the verge of death…," she breathed, looking deep into her counterpart's eyes.

Jack felt as if he could see the sea in them, whether it was because of her now or because of his fever, he couldn't say.

"Just because you're not old doesn't automatically make you young. At the moment, my body feels weak rather than strong … wait – so this is what you meant in your hut when you said my days weren't many any more?"

His breath was going far too fast and his throat tightened. Had Tia Dalma called him to her because she knew he was about to bite the dust? After everything he had experienced and especially how he had lived, he was going to die of a bloody infection? Not exactly how he had imagined it.

"Dear Jack, do ye know that ye were always one of the people me liked the most?"

Briefly, Jack gave in to the effort to grin, but even that was too exhausting for him right now.

Tia Dalma continued to speak, and her voice had a very calming effect on him.

"The first time I saw ye, ye were still a boy. Once, when ye fell off the ship into the sea when I had let the ocean rage, I abruptly calmed down because I couldn't have borne to lose ye, lively boy so soon."

Jack remembered that day. The sea had been an angry mass, and he had been thrown over the railing by a strong wave. At that time, too, he had thought he was going to die below the tremendous lot of salt water.

"Ye always had a longin' for yer freedom and when ye saw the Wicked Wench ye swore ye would own her and she would give ye that freedom. She was yer desire, … yer first love, … yer self-chosen destiny."

"Why are you telling me all this?" asked Jack.

It was nice to hear her talking, but he couldn't see any point in it. He knew his life, which just seemed to be slipping away.

"Let me finish. It won't be long now," said Tia Dalma and her head jerked back impatiently.

She leaned against her chair and started again.

"I never had any desires except to rule the sea freely. To take the form of a woman now and then and participate in life. But the day came when I felt empty. The sea was as still as a boring lake for weeks. I even felt a little ashamed of it. And on that day, I realised that I would not want to exist forever. I would never belong to the people the way I wanted to. I could no longer detach myself from them either, I had become too involved with them for that. This thought fell asleep again over the years. There was always something new, and I found pleasure again in minglin' with people more often and appearing to them as a witch. Now it is that I need a successor, should I really no longer want to exist as a goddess."

Jack's head was spinning so that it hurt. These were supernatural thoughts that he could not comprehend. What could be better than cheating death itself?

Nevertheless, he could follow Tia Dalma and so he asked, "And then you took care of your successor? Rachel has turned out well – halfway – her morals are exaggerated and especially her attitude towards piracy urgently needs revision. Unintentionally, she amuses me when her hot temper could take her far beyond the horizon, but – let's put it kindly – small deficits in the form of two left hands constantly are getting in her way. May I ask how old she is?"

Tia Dalma had to laugh heartily and it took her a while to calm down. If only he knew!

"Human's division of time … it's never been easy for me to appreciate that. Six or eight summers younger than ye are? Tell me: ever heard of Callisto?"

Jack briefly thought about where he had heard this name before, but it did not come to mind. He shrugged his shoulders in perplexity and was now overcome by a convulsive fit that made his whole body tremble. He breathed faster again and clutched his chest anxiously.

"No, Jack, not yet. Stop obsessin' over yer condition. It doesn't suit ye. Get over yerself, hang in there for a while, and then leave yerself to yer destiny."

Upset, Jack stood up and waved his arms around – albeit less energetically than usual.

"You old witch scare me! You don't give me any answers. I thank you for the stories you tell me, but none of them helps me."

He tried to shout softly, which sounded quite funny to Tia Dalma's ears, and his hysterical manner made everything seem even more amusing. But she had helped a little, and her guards would not notice.

"Ye're not listenin' to me, Jack. I'm givin' ye a lot of answers. Now it's up to ye what ye make of it."

Jack groaned and dragged himself to the door. "That's your problem, my dear. You've never been able to give anyone straight answers anytime. Always you have to encode everything."

"That's why ye liked me … a lot, some time ago."

He turned to leave, but Tia Dalma called him back for a moment.

"Jack, when ye get over your life crisis here, back to yer old self and try to escape from this ship, take me with ye … and Temari. That's a threat. Time is runnin' out."

With these words, she dismissed the infamous captain.