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Chapter Text

Dying was not the most pleasant experience she ever went through. But it wasn´t even in the top ten of her worst experience, so she wasn´t complaining. Besides, being given a second chance at life was a nice experience. She even managed to get a loving, although crazy family out of the deal!

True, it wasn´t all sunshine and roses, given the period and place into which she was reborn, but she wasn’t complaining. In fact, the Girl Who Lived, later known as the Woman Who Survived, could say that she was happy with her life. She had more freedom than before and she could be herself, without having to cater to the expectations of others.

It was very a very liberating feeling…

She watched as the ship sailed to the Port Royal´s docks, feeling how the wind ran through her hair and lifted the long strands and braids over her shoulders. Her dark eyes took note of the ships that could only belong to the navy, counting how many there are, and she had to hold back a grimace. There were more than she anticipated when they decided to come to this place. Not by much, but still more, which meant more marine soldiers. Though the woman knew that everything would run smoothly if everyone on the ship played according to the plan and kept up the ruse.

Her eyes lingered on a familiar marine ship.

Hopefully, things would go smoothly…

“Captain, the preparations are ready,” the voice of her first mate cut through her musings. She turned around to see the man come up and join her at the forecast deck. “Once we make port, we can start with our tasks and, hopefully, get things done by tomorrow.” The older man tried to sound optimistic, but there was a frown appeared on his face.

“Lighten up, Gibbs,” she told him, with a small smile. “We had to get out of a worse situation than this one. Hardly our first time going incognito into a marine town, and hardly the last. We´ll be fine.”

“Aye, we´ll be…maybe,” muttered the man as he frowned at the port.

She paused, then looked at her first mate. “Something bothering you, buddy?”

Gibbs hesitated for a moment before he replied “Coraline says there are ships, that belong to the British marines. The infamous Dauntless among them.”

“Yeah. I noticed,” she sighed. “Worried old Norrington will be there? That he might recognize and try to chase me?”

“Aye. Aren´t you worried about it too, captain?” the older man looked at her, curiously.

“Nya. The old bastard has long since stopped sailing on that ship,” she said with certainty. “From what I heard, he hurt himself too much, on his last journey. No. This is probably his son.”

“His son?”

“Aye. He followed his daddy dearest´s footsteps and became a marine himself. A pirate hunter to boot. If anybody would sail that ship, it would be him.”

That did not seem to calm her companion. “And you are not worried, Jackie?”

“Worried? Constantly, dear Gibbs,” she replied with a laugh. “For the weather, for the ship, for my crew. But for one man? Nya, he has no idea what I look like, after all. Besides, I trust our crew to have my back. Even if he had an entire fleet at his call, he would be no match for our cunning and deviousness. After all, those Brits are mostly stuck-up boring men, that can´t see left from right, even if it slapped them,” she finished with their private joke, causing the man to chuckle.

“You put too much faith into us, captain,” reminded her Gibbs, but the frown has already disappeared from his face, a small smile replacing it.

She smiled back at him. “But you live up the faith.”

“We must because you are just too good for us, Jackie,” the man told her with a headshake. “We must prove ourselves to be worthy of such a great captain. You are, after all, the envy of all pirate crews that sail the seas – Captain Jacqueline Sparrow!”

“You flatter me, Gibbs, you old dog! I´m hardly that special, mate,” she told him with a soft laugh, knowing that this will spark a familiar old debate.

“I beg to differ,” Gibbs opposed her. “Honestly, you could ask anybody on this ship, and they would tell you the same: We´re proud to sail under you, and we have no trouble telling it to everybody!”

“My previous crew would disagree, though,” Jacqueline pointed out and she couldn´t hide her wince at the memory. She had to admit, that treacherous crew was a mistake so bad she just couldn´t describe it with words and a lot of her worst memories for this life connected to it.

Naturally, Gibbs scowled the moment the crew was brought up. “They were idiots with brain damage so bad, it is a wonder they aren´t vegetables! If they had even a lick of common sense or an actual working brain, they would have never done something so stupid as organizing a mutiny against you. Especially my predecessor,” the last bit was said with a growl, as always, when Gibbs criticised the shortcomings of her ex-first mate.

“Meow.”

“Glad you agree with me, Caspian,” Gibbs smirked as a familiar black tomcat joined them and jumped up on the railing closest to Jacqueline.

Said tomcat throwing the man a look as if to say ´Like those fools are anything better than dirty trash´ before he turned and gave the female captain a challenging one, daring her to disagree with them.

“Don´t worry,” she said, rolling her eyes. “There is no love lost between me and that crew. Besides, part of the guilt of that mess falls on me because I put my trust in the wrong hands. But!” she raised her hand when the tomcat hissed, and Gibbs opened his mouth to say something. “I know they are at fault too and that they need to pay for what they did. And pay they will if I have any say in it! Savvy?”

That seemed to calm down the duo…although Caspian had an interesting expression on his face. He looked like was both feeling smug and bloodthirsty at the same time, betraying his thoughts about plotting the demise of the traitors. Which, she had to admit, might seem like a scary thing to see on a cat´s face. Combining it with the human intelligence that shone through those orange eyes of his, just added fuel to the feeling. But for Jacqueline and her crew, who knew the truth behind Caspian, it was pretty normal to see the cat being this expressive. After all, he wasn´t an ordinary cat…

“Anyway, I better go. I must get ready to play my part. So, see you later, gentlemen.” With that she turned around, completely missing the fond smiles and looks exchanged between Caspian and Gibbs, as they watched the retreating looks of their captain.

Jacqueline got down to the main deck and started making her way to captain quarters to get changed before they anchored in the port. She walked beside the railing, occasionally looking at the sea when something caught her attention. She whipped her head around to see, what was no doubt a noblewoman falling into the water.

The captain didn´t even hesitate, throwing her coat to the side, she shouted: “Coraline, after me!” and dove into the water.

Underwater she didn´t try to fight her shift, as her legs turned into a long black tail. Said tail carried her forward, far faster than human legs ever would, and she made it to the sinking noble before she could sink too deep. She caught her from one side and quickly cast a bubble head charm over the woman. She looked around until she saw Coraline arriving from the other side, her blue tail almost invisible in the sea waters.

“Quick, help me get her from this dress, or she will only drag us down,” she ordered and the two of them proceeded to undo the fastening holding the heavy clothes on the woman. With two pairs of hands, the work was done quickly, and the clothes discharged into the depths. However, when the female captain saw what the noblewoman was wearing underneath, she nearly cursed. It was a corset! A British one to boot! The captain didn´t know whether to pity the woman or shake her head at such stupidity, subjecting oneself to suffocating clothes, all for the sake of keeping up with fashion. But instead, she led the three of them to the surface and once the unconscious woman´s head ended above water, they started swimming back towards their ship.

There, they were already waiting for them.

“Captain, what´s da situation?” asked Anamaria, as she and Akira helped them get the woman aboard their ship.

“Same as in Singapore, mates – A too-tight corset,” she replied, climbing abroad, with Coraline in tow.

“Undastood, captain,” replied Um-Baku, the ship´s doctor, and proceeded to make quick work of removing the troublesome piece of fabric. That action resulted in a deeply relieved gasp, from the woman, though she reminded unconscious. To check her, the African man waved a hand over her body, his palm glowing slightly green as he muttered to himself. When he finished, he pulled back his hand with a satisfied nod. “She fainted fom a combination of lack of ai and shock when she hit the wata. She should be alight with some est.”

“Good. In that case, Akira, Um-Baku, please take her to my quarters. She should be comfortable there and I will watch over here until we dock in,” Jacqueline firmly decided, and the two men were quick to obey. Then she turned towards the rest of her crew. “The rest of you, please, make sure we dock in safely and be on the watch out if someone comes looking for this woman. But don´t forget our plan. Just because we ran into a complication, it doesn´t mean we will let it ruin our strategy. We will just adapt it accordingly. Savvy?”

Elizabeth came to herself in a cabin of some sort, at the sound of rustling fabrics and someone´s muttering. She blinked in surprise, trying to figure out what happened and where was she. She knew she was not on any of the ships under her father´s command. For one, it looked nothing like a cabin belonging to someone from the English navy. It was decorated with exotic-looking trinkets, some of which she recognized as Asian, while the rest she didn´t dare to guess the origins of. And the fabrics, be it on the furniture, or just arranged around like decorative curtains. The governor´s daughter never saw fabrics like these, but nonetheless, they were beautiful, in bright but well-matched colours. She fell in love with them at first glance… but now she was more concerned with how she got there. So, she had, reluctantly, cut her admiration short and tried to figure out her situation.

The last thing she remembered was talking to commodore Norrington and then…

She quickly sat up, hands roaming all over her torso, searching for the damned corset that caused her fall. But to her great relief, she found it gone.

“Ah, I see that our sleeping beauty has awakened. Good, I was getting worried, darling,” came a melodious voice, which caused her to look to the side, for its owner. What, or rather, who she saw there, caused her eyes to widen.

The person was a woman and even from her place, Elizabeth could see that she was beautiful. Her hair was brown in colour, the long strands falling nearly to her waist like some sort of a veil, with small, decorated braids peeking out here and there. A red scarf kept the hair back from her face, save for a few richly decorated braids that fell alongside it, giving an unobscured of the woman´s flawless, sun-kissed face. She possessed a pair of well-shaped lips, high cheekbones and eyes so dark they seemed almost black, with the thick eyelashes and kohl making them stand out more, highlighting the breath-taking effect they naturally possessed.

She was clad in a black form-hugging dress with a golden pattern, wide sleeves, and a skirt, made from fabrics like those decorating the cabin. The neckline hinted at the woman´s well-shaped breasts but kept itself decent enough to satisfy even the most conservative nobles and around her thin waist was tied a red scarf matching the one around her head. A very unusual attire, compared to what was Elizabeth used to, but it worked well to highlight the woman´s beauty and the aura of mystery surrounding her.

The blonde female came out of her stupor when the mysterious woman moved, revealing that the skirt was cut up to her mid-thigh and that underneath, she was wearing white pants and black boots.

“Well, hello there, love. How are you feeling?” asked the woman, when she came to her and sat down on the bed beside Elizabeth.

“I´m well…if a bit confused,” admitted Elizabeth. “Could you tell me, where I am? And how did I get there?”

“Well, love, our ship was sailing towards the docks, when I saw your fall and since we were the closest to you, we saved you. Unfortunately, your dress was too heavy to swim with it to the ship, so it had to be discharged into the waters before we could safely get you to the ship. We are currently in my quarters since it is the most private area on the ship and I thought, you might welcome the privacy of nobody seeing your…underdressed state,” the woman gestured to Elizabeth´s undergarment.

“I see. Thank you. For the help and the given courtesy, madam,” the blonde female thanked her sincerely.

“You´re welcome, dearie. Though I must ask – corset? Really? I knew that fashion is important in the circles of the nobles, but I never understood the need to suffer for it. Particularly in a corset tied so tightly as that one,” admitted the woman, looking curiously at her.

The governor´s daughters blushed and looked away, as she admitted “It was a gift from my father…and the first time I wore one.”

“Ah, say no more,” the woman nodded her head in understanding. Then she sighed. “Far be the day, when a man can understand his way in the female fashion and in what is the best for the body.” Here she paused before she leaned towards her and winked while whispering in a conspiring voice “That´s why we, women, should do the actual shopping and the men should just provide the money. We have better taste, after all.”

The blonde woman couldn´t help but giggle at these words. It was an unfortunate truth, but it was funny, nonetheless. Her father, while meaning well, had trouble deciding when it came to clothes that might be good for a woman like her and seeing him getting flustered, because of it, was entraining. But at least he knew his limits and usually chose what other noble women recommended him. Even though those recommendations might not end well, the latest accident with the corset being an example.

“Apropos, talking about clothes, you will need something to wear,” the unknown woman said, then she got up and walked to an open chest, next to a big table with various maps and books. “I got word that we just docked in Port Royal and no doubt soon someone will appear looking for you. In that case, we need to make sure you will look presentable. I think some of my clothes should fit you.” She knelt beside the chest and started looking through it.

“Oh, thank you. But you don´t have to do this!” Elizabeth said quickly. “Really, what you did is already enough, madam.”

“Please, no madam. Call me Jacqueline or Jackie, love,” the beauty requested, while still searching. “And I may not have to, but I want to. So lean back love and let me get you something presentable.” She looked for a while before she turned to Elizabeth. “Do you have anything against yellow?”

Elizabeth shook her head.

“Good. Then this should look good on you.” Jacqueline then pulled out a dress that the younger woman´s eyes widened.

A few minutes later, Elizabeth couldn´t help but admire herself as she looked at her reflection in Jacqueline´s mirror. The borrowed dress looked more luxurious than anything she had ever worn before. Also more conservative, because it completely covered her chest, but reminded form-fitting from the waist up. It was light yellow in colour and a floral pattern was embroidered in darker, almost golden shades. In fact, the dress itself shimmered in a way that resembled liquid gold, broken only by a tasteful white hem and a white under-skirt visible under the wide skirt, thanks to two thigh-high cuts on both sides. And to complete the exotic look, Jacqueline did her hair up, using several hair needles.

“I was right, it suits you, love,” smirked Jacqueline, making Elizabeth blush at the compliment.

A knock on the doors halted any further conversation.

“Enter!” Jacqueline called loudly.

An older man, dressed in well-worn, but good-quality clothes, entered. The moment he caught sight of Elizabeth, he bowed to her with a simple “My Lady”, before he turned to Jacqueline. “Captain.”

“Captain?” Elizabeth mouthed, wide-eyed as she looked towards the other woman.

“What´s the matter, Gibbs?” Jacqueline asked, while she reached down and pick up a black cat that entered the cabin alongside the man.

“Some men wearing military uniforms came to our ship, looking for this young lady,” the man gestured to still-shocked Elizabeth. “Apparently, they saw us pulling her abroad, then proceeded to track down our ship. They arrived with several other gentlemen, one of which seems to be the lady´s father, a certain Governor Swann if I caught the name right. They wanted to know if the young lady is alright, so I asked them to wait, while I went to retrieve you and check, whether the young lady woke up.” Gibbs reported dutifully.

“I see. Thank you, for informing us,” she nodded at him while petting the black cat nestled in her arms. “Where are those men now?”

“They´re abroad, captain. Waiting on the main deck, with the rest of the crew, as we speak.”

“Good, good,” Jacqueline hummed thoughtfully before she turned towards Elizabeth, who finally managed to warp her head around the amazement of being in the presence of a female captain.

“Well, then, let´s not make them wait for us.” The dark-haired beauty gestured towards the door. “Shall we?”

What a day, James thought as he stood beside Governor Swann on the ship that supposedly saved Elizabeth. It started out so well, but then things took such a sharp turn for worse. Particularly, after he went to talk privately with the Governor´s daughter. He wanted to kick himself for not noticing something was wrong sooner, too focused on his nerves and the proposal he wanted to make. If he was paying more attention to his surroundings and especially to his female companion…

The commodore forced himself to stop thinking about this and instead focused on the ship crew that waited with them. He had to admit it was a very diverse group of people:

Among the men, first, there was an older man, clearly a native to the Caribbean, considering his attire. He looked like someone well experienced with sailing, though James based his judgement on the fact that man fulfilled his duties on the ship with practised ease. This man also possessed an unusual pet in the form of a big parrot, which occasionally said a phrase or two, even though its owner remained silent.

Helping him was another male who was this time way smaller in stature than anybody Norrington ever saw. He too must have been native to the Caribbean, based on his choice of clothes, though the bald head and the braided goatee were throwing the commodore off a bit. But the two of them were still rather normal looking, all things considered.

The other two males, however, were what threw him off the most: One was clearly a very tall, bald African person, with strange spike-like markings decorating his face. Because he was shirtless, it could also be clearly seen that the marking continued down his body, symmetrically adoring his chest and shoulders, creating some sort of a pattern. He was standing right across them, arms folded across his chest and his dark eyes were watching Norrington and his companions, without blinking, even once. The second was an Asian, though, of all people present, he was the scariest looking, with a long scar running vertically across his cheeks and nose, and another running from the left side of his forehead, through his nose and to the right side of his chin. He was dressed in a one-sleeved robe, so his right arm was revealed, showing off a tattoo that covered every inch of the skin. It looked like black clouds and some creature with a snake-like body that ended in a monstrous horned head. The Asian was standing under the quarter deck, right next to the doors leading towards the captain´s cabin, with one hand resting loosely on the hilt of his sword. That, combined with the African man´s posture made it clear that they were both standing on guard, ready to defend their comrades if necessary.

The commodore held no illusion about these men´s capabilities, should things go sought. He just hoped it would not be the case, while he had to hold back a shudder when he thought he saw the creature on the tattoo looking straight at him. Instead, he focused on the female crew members, who, by far, were the most normal-looking ones.

First, there was an African woman, dressed in clothes typical for Caribbean sailors. She held herself calmly and her expression betrayed no emotion besides boredom. The only time it changed was when she surveyed their group before she seemed to come to some sort of a silent conclusion and mostly decided to ignore them. Instead, her dark eyes were observing the activity in the port.

Then there was a young female, clearly of Asian heritage, though, unlike her male counterpart, she did not appear to be intimidating. She was petite in stature, but she held herself with silent confidence and something about her posture told James that she was no push-over. Her hair was held up and she was clad in blue clothes typical for her place of origin, though apparently adjusted for the Caribbean weather, since the top was from fitting.

She was quietly talking with another woman, who was at least a head taller from her and clearly of European descend if her red hair and fair skin were any indications. She was clearly the cold beauty type one would imagine somewhere in the noble society, not as someone living on a ship like this one. What however caused Norrington to twitch, when looking at her, were the clothes the redhead was wearing – it was an outfit made from some navy-blue warp cloth that she fashioned into a very short dress, showing off the woman´s WELL developed body. Thankfully, she saw it necessary to wear grey pants under the dress and add a short grey coat, to keep her decency, otherwise, James was sure the men would have trouble focusing.

All three women were remarkably good-looking, which caused James to privately wonder if there was ever trouble in the crew because of this. It also raised the question of what sort of captain can keep control over such a mixed group of people…

His mussing was interrupted, when an older gentleman, who introduced himself as Joshamee Gibbs, walked out from the doors leading to the captain´s cabin. The man then proceeded to step aside, revealing…

“Elizabeth!” governor Weatherby Swann called out in relief.

“Father!” the unharmed daughter smiled at him and hurried to greet her father, while James found himself unable to look away from her, both because of relief and awe. He was relieved that she was alright and clearly unharmed, but also in awe because her new appearance made her look unbelievably beautiful. A sentiment that other military men clearly shared with him if their expression was any indication.

“My dear, I´m so glad to see you´re alright!” Governor Swann declared once he got the chance to hug his daughter. “You gave us all quiet the scare, there, my dear. Fortunately, nothing bad happened to you.”

“I´m glad too, father,” Elizabeth agreed with him. “And it is all thanks to the captain and the crew, for without them…” the noblewoman shuddered, clearly shaken at the memory of what happened.

“Now, now, my dear. Everything is alright now,” the governor tried to soothe his daughter. “You´re safe.”

“Yes, I am,” Elizabeth sighed softly before she looked back over her shoulder. “Thank you, captain. Thank you and your crew.”

“You´re welcome, Miss Swann. It was, honestly, our pleasure,” a soft cultivated voice spoke up, reminding them all, of the presence of a third person. But when they turned to face the “captain”, they were all left taken aback at what they saw. However, the unknown person didn´t seem to notice this, as they addressed Elizabeth´s father “Please, don´t worry, Governor Swann. I had our ship doctor examine your daughter after we rescued her, so I can assure you that she is as fit as a fiddle, so you don´t have to worry about her health.”

“I…see. Thank you very much. For everything,” the man nodded. “May I inquire about your name…captain?”

“Naturally, sir. My name is Jacqueline Lemoineau and I´m the captain of Red Dawn. It is a pleasure to meet you,” the woman said with a small smile, making Norrington´s breath catch in his throat. Because if he had previously thought that Elizabeth and the other three women were beautiful, then this woman was outright gorgeous.

Chapter Text

Gibbs hid a smirk as he watched his beloved captain charm the local Governor and his companions. It was always fascinating and satisfying to watch. Fascinating, because Jacqueline managed to pull it off as naturally as one would breathe, and the first mate often wondered how much her quarter-mermaid origin came into play during those times. And satisfying, because it kept reaffirming his conviction that their captain was a true gem among the rocks that made up the Pirate Lords. This was a conviction Gibbs knew was shared by the whole crew of the Red Dawn, for varying reasons, some known only known for certain members and their captain. Plus, another reason Gibbs found the interaction satisfying was seeing Norrington Junior falling steadily under Jackie´s charm. The man tried to hide it, and the first mate had to admit he did a good job at it, but he was still weak against the Sparrow and his eyes kept wandering to different places. With how much did the Senior make her life hell, because of her family name, it was hilarious to see his son already losing to Jackie.

Although it remained Gibbs of an old question that plagued him and others, in regards to their captain – Was Jacqueline even aware of what effect she had on men and, in some cases, on women? He didn´t mean seduction, everybody who knew her could tell when she was actively trying to do that, and this wasn´t it. He meant the aura she naturally seemed to release, whenever she interacted with a larger group of people for the first time – the proud stance her body took; her behaviour of somebody comfortable in their own skin; and the natural inborn grace that she possessed. Either she managed to perfect it before she met them all, or it was such an ingrained part of her, that she never noticed. Gibbs was leaning towards the latter, since she did it all without trying and without pretence, as naturally as breathing came to people, and as fish took to water. The only way to possibly describe her as a person was the affectionate nickname given to her by both their and Mistress Ching´s crew…

He was pulled back from his mussing, when Governor Swann invited Jacqueline for dinner, to thank her for saving his daughter. Gibbs frowned slightly, but his captain didn´t let herself be thrown from the game, as she replied “There is no need to thank me. Really, we were just lucky to help, since we were close.”

“While that might be, I have to agree with the Governor on this invitation. I would also like to thank the person who saved my fiancé from drowning,” Norrington spoke up.

“Be it as it may, I wouldn´t be able to do anything without Coraline´s help. So, she deserves your thankfulness as well,” the brunette motioned to their red-headed navigator.

Siad female shook her head, expression closed off for those who didn´t know her. “I wouldn´t be of any help if you didn´t see her, captain. You made the right call, and made sure the young lady was well taken care of until these men arrived.”

Typical Coraline, thought Gibbs. Closed off, short and to the point with her words.

“Besides, I would also like to thank you, for lending me this dress, Captain Lemoineau,” the Governor´s daughter, Elizabeth, if he heard her name right, joined in. And yes, Gibbs did recognize her clothes as one of the dresses made for Jackie by Ling and Coraline, although it didn’t look nearly as dashing on the blonde, as it did on their captain. “After all, without your kindness, I would be standing here only in my underdress.”

“…very well. If you´re so insistent, then I accept your invitation,” Jacqueline said finally, knowing when to admit defeat in an argument. Although, from what Gibbs could tell, based on how long he had known her, she was not thrilled by the idea, and he couldn´t blame her. The invitation was a risk, but one they wouldn´t be able to avoid, without attracting unnecessary attention.

Which meant that their safest bet was to let Jackie go to the dinner. But that didn´t mean they were going to let her go there alone, and Gibbs was already deciding on who could and who couldn´t accompany her. So far, the best bet lay with one of the ladies, maybe Ling or Coraline…but maybe they could sneak in Akira, considering he was a samurai sworn into Jacqueline´s service.

The captain exchanged a few pleasantries with their guests, including information about when the Governor would send a carriage with an escort to pick her up. Then the locals left, and the crew could breathe more freely.

Jacqueline let out a relieved sigh, as she watched the retreating backs of the Governor, his daughter and their navy companions. Things went better than she expected. None of them suspected that she and her crew were anything other than a crew of sailors and occasional traders of fabrics and spices. That was good. They even made a good first impression on Norrington Junior, which meant that he didn´t suspect anything from them. What she questioned was her idea of accepting the invitation from the Governor for dinner as a way to thank her for saving her daughter´s life and taking care of her, until the man came for her. But Jacqueline figured that it would be a good way to stay in the good grace of the people in charge of Port Royal.

With that in mind, she put everybody to their task. Her first mate with his group was going to collect the necessary supplies, such as food, water and other supplies that needed to be refilled or replaced. The captain herself was going to visit the local blacksmith with her own group, to have their weapons checked over and potentially buy anything that caught their attention.

“Watch over the ship guys and later you can join the others for a fun night in the pub,” the brunette told Coraline and Marty, who opted to stay behind on the ship.

“Aye, captain,” nodded the short man.

“Understood, captain,” the redhead agreed, her composure remaining cool and collected, like the ice of her home waters. “You can count on us.”

“I always do, dears,” Jacqueline grinned at them, and with one final nod, she turned around and left the ship with the rest of the crew.

Will was about to take a break when he heard the rumours about a strange mismatched crew coming to the town. Usually, he didn´t pay much attention to rumours, but this one was interesting even for him. Mainly, because one of the rumours about them was that they had saved Governor Swann´s daughter from drowning after she fell into the sea. While Will hoped that it was false, or, at least, that Elizabeth was alright after such a horrifying experience, he couldn´t help but wonder about the unknown crew…

The brown-haired male was pulled back from his mussing when he heard three loud knocks. Figuring out that it was a possible customer, he got up from his seat and opened the door to the forge. The sight that greeted him nearly caused him to recoil from surprise, but he managed to hold back from his reaction. But it was a near thing.

“Hello there, mate. Is the blacksmith here? People said that this was the local forge,” the brunette woman spoke up from her place at the front of the group. And Will was not ashamed to admit that the woman was gorgeous (despite having eyes only for Elizabeth), particularly in that black dress with golden patterns. She was also clearly the leader of the mismatched group, which consisted of a dangerous-looking Asian swordsman with the odd tattoo, a black-skinned Caribbean woman who looked bored by things around her, and an old man with a parrot on his shoulder… and a black cat. Because what Will, at first glance, thought to be an odd furry scarf, around the brunette´s neck, turned out to be a black cat with sharp orange eyes.

“Hello to you too,” the young man started slowly, surprised by the unnatural intelligence that was present in the cat´s eyes. “The locals pointed you in the right direction. I´m one of the blacksmiths working here. My name is William Turner.”

“Ah, we´re in luck then! I´m Jacqueline Lemoineau, captain of the Red Dawn, and these are members of my crew,” the brunette gestured to the group around her, while smiling, which caused Will´s breath to catch in his throat. But he quickly collected himself, as she inquired “Tell me, how quickly can you sharpen, and possibly repair several blades, and a few unusual weapons?”

“That depends on the number of blades and the repair needed,” the young blacksmith admitted. “May I see the weapons, before we proceed?”

“Of course. Akire, Cotton, if you would be so kind,” she motioned to the nearest table and the two men obediently took the oddly shaped packages they carried and put them down. Then they opened them and laid out what was inside, then stepped to the side.

Without prompting, Will walked over and examined each weapon. There were cutlasses, knives, a pair of swords and even an odd-bladed weapon, that looked like a small scythe, attached to a long chain. However, the oddest of them was a pair of weapons with triangular blades attached to some odd handles. Interest piqued; the blacksmith took the interesting blades into his hands to examine them further.

“What weapons are these?”

Instead of the brunette captain, it was the African woman with a yellow bandana around her head who spoke up “They´re called katars and in your place, I would be careful with them. They´re a pair of tricky bastards.”

“Yet, you love to use them, dear Anamaria,” chuckled the brunette woman. “And I think you should demonstrate them to him before he could accidentally amputate a few of his fingers.”

“Got it, captain,” Anamaria nodded and walked over to Will. She quickly took the weapons from him, and with practised ease griped them in her hands, with the base of the blades resting against her knuckles. Then she tightened her grip and the blades split into three parts and spread out like flowers.

Seeing that, the young blacksmith couldn´t help but whistle in appreciation. “Those are some impressive blades.”

 “If you think this is impressive, boy, then you should see what the captain can do with her fans.”

“Fans?” Will repeated, not understanding.

Anamaria smirked at him. “Fans made of metal and…”

“Ana-san,” the Asian male, Akira, spoke up, silencing his dark-skinned comrade. His voice was deep and carried a thick accent, probably native to his homeland, at least, from what the blacksmith could tell.

Still, the brunet blacksmith thought about the piece of information given to him. Compared to the decorative fans used by the women from the upper class, he could see the benefits of one made from metal, especially from sharpened metal. It would be a perfect hidden weapon, particularly for a woman since nobody would suspect a fan as something dangerous… Glancing at the captain and at the well-made dress she wore, he could easily see her walking among the rich, decorated fan in her hand, and if danger came to her, she would take care of it… Not that Will had any idea how, but for some reason, he felt that the woman was full of surprises.

But back to the matter at hand, he thought and looked back at the weapons on the table. “I see. Well, looking at all of these, I should be finished with sharpening them by tomorrow morning,” Will explained, after thinking about it. “And any possible repair needed should be done by the same time.”

“Great,” the brunette grinned. “How much will it be?” When Will told her, she nodded and threw him a small pouch with coins. “Here is the first half. And if we´re satisfied with the results, you´ll get paid extra.”

Not one to turn down a deal with such a benefit, Will Truner was more than happy to agree with those terms. Some of the blades looked very interesting in their design, and if he managed to make a few drawings of them, it would give him plenty of ideas to work with on future projects. Particularly, if he managed to figure out the way those “katars” worked with those opening blades.

Mind occupied with those ideas, he saw the odd group out, but before they disappeared from his sight, he managed to catch some of their conversation.

“Now, to hit the market for some ammunition for our canons and to see, if we can find some gunpowder,” mused the captain.

“Are you sure you want to look around, Jackie?” Anamaria asked with an amused look on her face, as she teased her captain. “Shouldn´t you go and get ready for your dinner with the Governor and his daughter, whom you saved? You don´t want to disappoint them, by looking like a bar wench, right?”

´Jackie´ rolled her dark eyes. “Like Ling or Cora would allow that to happen, love. Knowing them, they already have a plan for what I should wear for the thank-you dinner. And if you keep making fun of it, then I will make you come along, dressed up like a handmaid.”

“Ugh! Anything but that!” groaned the other woman.

Will didn´t hear more than that, but what he did made his mind reel. He quickly put together that with the rumours he had heard and realized he met the people who saved Elizabeth. He had spoken to them and just confirmed himself that there was some truth to the rumours. Strangely, none of them mentioned that the captain was such a gorgeous woman. The young man would have thought that men would gossip about her…then again, with the outlook some sailors have on women being abroad, let alone as members of a crew…yeah, Will suddenly understood the lack of comment about “that”.

Shaking his head, Will turned back to the table where the group´s weapons were laid out. “Well, time to get to work.” And he did just that, with one last thought belonging to the odd group, or at least to their captain, wondering why her last name sounded so strange to him. As if it reminded him of something, but he couldn´t figure out what it was.

Jacqueline couldn´t shake off the odd feeling that came over her, as the evening approached. It wasn´t related to anything specific, just a general feeling of foreboding that usually came to her when something big was about to happen, it wasn´t related to her or her crew, but it would affect them in some way. But since her instincts weren´t screaming at her, it meant that they were capable of handling things.

Still, just to be sure, Jacqueline opted to hide a few extra blades inside the clothes that would be hidden by the dress she planned to wear for the dinner. It was a long-sleeved evening gown made from a blue outer layer with patterns that resembled the waves, that parted just underneath her breasts, revealing a pure white underdress. The white part was decorated with silver details here and there that matched a simple, but beautiful brooch with an oval moonstone that laid on the left side of her chest. It was one of her practical dresses that she could slip out of, by undoing her brooch, since it was the main thing that held the dress together. As the witch slipped it on, she had to admit to herself that she really loved how Coraline and Ling took to her idea of clothes with double function, and always managed to turn it into something remarkable.

“If those two ever became tailoresses, then they´ll make a fortune,” she muttered to herself, looking at her reflection, as she put her hair up and made use of a few senbons to create the messy, yet stylish ponytail she wanted.

There was a knock on her door and after an “Enter” from the captain, Mei Ling, their ship´s potion mistress, came in.

“Ah, I see you´re ready, captain,” the Chinese woman spoke up, eying her clothes.

“Almost, I just need a few finishing touches on my make-up,” the taller woman replied, sitting down behind her dressing table and pulling out her make-up kit. She did a quick work on some blue eyeshades, her trademark kohl and a vermilion red for her lips. “How is Akira? I didn’t think that he was going to come with us to the dinner.”

Ling inclined her head, as she walked over to the case to get a perfume bottle. “We´re not letting you go to meet young Norrington without back-up, you know that. As for Akira, he is at the deck, on the lookout for the carriage that should come to pick us up,” the shorter woman returned with a pretty glass bottle and proceeded to gently spray it on her captain, who stopped moving and waited for the other female to finish. “Tho, he declined to wear anything outside of his usual outfit.”

“I didn´t expect him, since he is a warrior, not a diplomat,” Jacqueline shrugged one shoulder, glancing at the traditional, teal-coloured clothes with bronze patterns her companion was wearing. If she wasn´t mistaken, the clothes were called hanfu, which was a lot fancier, but still the practical equivalent of Ling´s usual dress. “What about the rest of the crew? Did they finish drawing who stays on the ship tonight?”

“They didn´t have to, captain. Um-Baku declined to go out tonight and Anamaria decided to stay to meditate, to help her with those transformation techniques you introduced her to,” Ling explained.

“Animagus transformation?”

“Yes, ma´am.”

“Ah. She probably wants Um-Baku´s help with it then, with him being a shifter and all.”

“Dat seems to be her plan.”

Jacqueline hummed in thought. “Good. Wonder if the crew is still betting on what she will get, once she succeeds? If I remember right, it was split between something avian, like a seagull, and something connected with water like a shark…”

Ling wisely didn´t comment, since she was one of those involved in the betting. Her personal opinion was leaning more towards a sea snake since she knew that her crewmate had a knack for handling them.

Giving herself one last once-over in the table´s mirror, the pirate captain nodded to herself, before getting up with a small sigh.

The Chinese woman immediately noticed her fellow female´s unease. “Ure ewe still nervous about the feeling you have, captain?”

“Yeah, a bit.”

“Dewn´t be. The crew is ready for anything and all are armed with our second set of weapons, in case something happens,” the Chinese woman reassured her friend.

“I hope so, Ling. I hope so,” muttered the brunette with a small frown.

By the time the two of them made it to the deck, the carriage was already waiting for them, with their escort. The two military-dressed men were surprised by the people accompanying the captain they were supposed to get. Jackie immediately got that they weren´t the sharpest tools in the shed, but she still found them funnily adorable. Thankfully, with a quick introduction and an explanation later, they were all seated in the carriage and on their way to the mansion belonging to the Governor.

In the mansion, Elizabeth felt oddly giddy as she waited beside her father for their guest of honour to arrive, in the salon meant for receiving guests. The reason for that was because, from their short conversation and interaction, the blonde woman came to be fascinated by the female captain who saved her life. She seemed like a confident, independent woman, capable of leading others, which was a stark contrast with the females Elizabeth usually interacted with up until that point. There was also the fact that the woman was clearly experienced, from travels into exotic worlds, if the decoration of her cabin, and her unique fashion sense was anything to go by.

Thinking about the fashion sense made the young woman remember the yellow/golden dress lying in her room after it had been cleaned by the servants, upon her return home. She needed to ask where the captain got it, if only to know what to recommend to her father to get her, since the dress was unbelievably comfortable and easy to move around in, while well within what was socially acceptable for a lady of her standing. With clothes like that, it must be a wonder to move around, although it made Elizabeth wonder if they were practical to move around on the sea. She remembered that the other female members of Captain Lemoineau´s crew wore mostly pants, even under dresses or skirts. But then again, the captain wore white pants underneath her dress, so maybe she chose her clothes, based on whether she was on land or on the sea… or whatever adventure she went on…

The blonde was pulled out from her thoughts, as a servant came in and announced the arrival of their guest, along with a small company.

“Send them in and then inform Norrington that our guest is here,” the Governor ordered and the servant was quick to follow his orders.

Soon the woman they were waiting for entered the salon, with the two Asians that were on her crew. Elizabeth felt herself breathe out in awe at the unique dress which was. It looked as if Jackline was dressed in sea waves, the details on the blue fabric so realistic and amazing.

“Good evening, Governor Swann and Miss Swann. It is a great pleasure to meet you again and to be invited into your home,” the brunette woman bowed to them with proper courtesy. The Asian woman on her right mimicked her gesture, while the Asian swordman simply bowed from his place by his captain´s left.

Elizabeth and her father returned the courtesy, while Governor Swann spoke “Good evening, Miss Lemoineau. It is our pleasure to have you here. Although, may I inquire about your companions? They´re a bit of a surprise for us if I´m being honest.”

“Certainly, sir. This is Mei Ling or Ling Mei, if we use the Western way of introduction. She is my right hand, among the women of my crew,” Jacqueline gestured to the woman, then to the man. “And this is Shinozaki Akira or Akira Shinozaki. He is a swordsman sworn into my service. I know you probably weren’t expecting anybody to come with me, and I apologize if it´s inconvenient for you. But both accompanied me at the insistence of my crew, as they are all very protective of me.”

The Asian duo nodded their heads once in acknowledgement of the truth of those words.

“I see. Well, it´s touching to see such loyalty from one´s comrades then. I imagine it can make surviving on the sea that much easier,” the Governor half mused aloud, half complimented the small group.

The captain smiled, happy to hear someone praise her friends for the amazing people they were. “Yes, they´re all a big treasure in that way. I trust each of them with my life,” she glanced at her companions, who both modestly ducked their heads at the praise. Then the brunette also added with a mischievous smile: “They also make sure that things never get boring on the seas.” As she spoke, she opened the fan she was holding, which Elizabeth noticed only now, and started gently fanning her face like a proper lady. During that, the blonde woman got a good look at the decoration, which was simple but elegant – the fan had sharp-looking edges, the colours resembled the sky at sunset, and there was a small brown bird mid-flight etched on it. Elizabeth could tell she liked the looks of it more than those fancy, over-decorated ones that were popular with the women around her.

“It sounds like something interesting to hear,” commented Elizabeth with a soft chuckle.

“Hmm, that depends on what you find interesting, love,” Jacqueline said thoughtfully, but still with that mischievous smile. “Would you find a story about how we escaped a cannibal tribe using colourful smoke and a trumpet, interesting? Or the one time my crew befriended a whale, which then sunk a ship that tried to attack us?” Those were the easier ones to tell, without revealing that she and her crew were actually pirates.

Now she got the attention of the two hosts, along with Norrington, who walked inside just in time to hear that. This resulted in Jacqueline detailing the different escapades and hilarious situations she and her crew got into. She even went into details, when Elizabeth asked, what is it like to be a female in charge of a crew, when most captains the blonde knew were males. Jackie said that there are other great female sailors, it´s just hard for them to gain any respect in a world dominated by males – something the captain herself and her crew tried to correct. And even, when the topics got changed into things like philosophy or literature, by accident, she seemed to be able to keep up and offer interesting insights and understandings of things. It was not something the Navy officer or the two aristocrats were used to hearing, but they found themselves not minding the change of pace, at all. The female captain´s way of telling things was so interesting, that it made one want to listen to her more and more. Almost as if her voice was carrying a melody that drew in her audience, almost as naturally as her personality and appearance did. Norrington even privately wondered if she was a singer. Somehow, that wouldn´t surprise him much.

Their talk and Jacqueline´s tales continued, even when dinner was ready and they moved to the dining hall and sat down to eat. The Asian duo moved to stand by both sides of their captain, keeping a respective distance from the table to give the talking quartet some privacy, only speaking when Jacqueline addressed them or asked them something. It was an interesting thing for the Governor to see, and made him wonder if there was something more to their guest than they first guessed. With how well-versed she seemed to be in proper etiquette and behaviour, along with the behaviour of her Asian companions…it almost seemed as if he was looking at a fellow noble and her escort. Once that thought crossed his mind, it seemed more and more like a possibility. True, Lemoineau was not a noble name he knew, but maybe she was a bastard child using her mother´s maiden name. That would explain her education, as well as her bravery to try and experience adventure since bastard children were usually looked down on or sent to monasteries. Maybe she ran away to the seas, to avoid such fate? Who knows, the older man wondered.

The dinner progressed smoothly, much to the satisfaction of all present. It ended on such a good note, that Jacqueline didn´t even mind, when Elizabeth asked if she could come visit their ship, to take a look at some of the fabrics the Red Dawn carried, and even buy some. The brunette agreed since she could smell a good way to make some quick gold, particularly since she told the noble that she could keep the dress Jackie lent her, as a wedding gift. She almost would have called the evening a great one, if her sense of trouble wasn´t constantly telling her something was going to happen. It was getting worse and worse, as time progressed, and she couldn´t wait to get to the carriage and return to the port, to check on the others from her crew.

What they were all unaware of was that a dark ship sailed into the port, just as they parted ways. Its black wood and sails hid it from the view, allowing it to silently arrive, without any of the port guards noticing. The only one who saw the ship was a certain African doctor, who was observing everything from the crow´s nest. Dark eyes, well adapted for darkness took in everything, trying to match the description with a certain ship, that had a special meaning to their captain.

However, when Um-Baku caught the sight of the crew, his eyes narrowed and an almost feral growl escaped his throat, for he could tell that trouble was coming their way. He quickly leaned over the edge of the nest, and called out at his other companion on the ship:

“ANAMAIA! Sound the alam! We got incoming of cused undead! Call the othas and get amed!”

The dark-skinned woman´s head snapped up at him before she ran as fast as she could to the horn they hanging outside for these emergencies. She quickly took the horn and with a quick  Sonorous!  she blew it as loudly as she could. The pirate managed to hold out for a solid minute, more than enough time to alert their crew and everybody else in the town. Then she put the horn away and ran to get herself a few guns, while the ship´s doctor scaled down from the crow´s nest, until he landed on the deck. Together, they got ready to defend their ship from the attacking undead, who weren’t scared away by their presence being revealed to the others.

Chapter Text

To say that the entire Port Royal was horrified by the presence of walking undead skeletons would have been an understatement. All civilians were in panic, while the marines were trying their best to handle the situation, but were out of their depths about how. They tried shooting or stabbing the skeletons in pirate clothes, but their actions were useless and more often than not, they were the ones who ended injured.

It was chaos everywhere… Well, everywhere where there wasn´t a member of the Sparrow crew. To those sailing under Jaqueline, this was NOT the worst situation they got in. Not even in the top twenty-ones. Namely, because one of their crew bonding times on the sea was discussing all kinds of hypothetical situations and how was the best way to deal with it. And those situations were truly varying in nature, from probable to completely ridiculous ones. Encountering the undead was a reoccurring topic, not only because there were different versions of undead, described in the varying cultures that met in the crew. But also, because it was something they had previous experiences with. After all, there was that one time in Egypt, and then when they were in China… Needless to say, all the ideas they came up with were tested and new improved ones were brought up. And if things failed, they followed Jacqueline´s universal idea: “When in doubt, aim for the head.”

Coincidently, that also applied to bar fights, but that was for another time.

Gibbs grunted as he swung his weapon around like a bat, hitting the walking skeleton in the head, which caused it to stagger back and collide with the one trying to attack Coraline from behind. Said redhead heard them and quickly whirled around and under-kicked their legs, causing them to fall into an empty barrel. Not far away from them, Mr Cotton´s parrot was flying around, throwing small stones and other objects it could carry at three cursed pirates. While they were distracted, Marty ran around unnoticed between them with one end of a rope, tangling them up, while Mr Cotton secured the other to a heavy wagon. Then the mute man waited until his short companion gave him the signal, and he pushed until the wagon gave away and went down the street, dragging the tangled-up trio with it.

“Nice work, boys!” Coraline laughed, as she and Gibbs sent the barrel with the two skeletons after the wagon.

“Thanks, Line. Wha´ be th´ others?”

“From the colourful explosions, Anamaria and Um-Baku are defending the ship in the docks,” the first mate replied, panting. Just then, another explosion was heard and a bright pink smoke cloud rose into the air.

“Right! Right!” the parrot, nicknamed Roro by their captain, said, landing on its owner´s shoulder. Said owner raised his hands and started moving them in the odd sign signs that the captain taught him and the crew. Where is the Captain and the others? She should have been back by now.

Just as he finished, there was a round of screams.

The crew turned to see a group of skeletons having a hard time: Mei Ling, despite her small stature tossed them around like some cheap rag dolls, using her martial skills. She twisted and turned in ways that seemed impossible for the human body, yet she did it with ease that spoke of years of practice. The crew could even hear some of the bones from the skeletons crack under her hits. But they expected nothing less from a girl who won a barfight all by herself. While completely wasted, courtesy of their captain. Still, the sight of the short Asian woman throwing around people twice or even thrice her size was still the funniest thing in their eyes.

Not far from her, Akira had his sword out and demonstrated the superiority of his blade compared to cutlass, leaving deep cut marks in the metal of the shorter blades. Those, unlucky enough to attack him without a weapon ended with a blade slicing through their bones, as if they were made from paper. His face was frowned in concentration, but the sparks in his eyes were unmistakable. Underneath his skin was a spark of contained violence, waiting to be unleashed at full force, wanting to join the force behind the precise cuts and hits the swordsman dealt. The crew knew what Akira was capable of, they knew that he was not human and thus could cause greater damage to his opponents. But the Japanese man was holding back that side of him, particularly in the presence of ordinary humans who ran around on the streets. Those were Jacqueline´s orders, to prevent him from being persecuted and attacked by regular humans, and Akira never disobeyed her. Not his Lady.

And their captain? She literarily danced with her opponents, having long since tossed aside her blue dress, to move more freely. Instead, she was clad in a white corset, dark pants and her high-heeled boots, both of her battle fans were out and used to cut through her enemies, just like Akira´s sword. But what gave her a truly dangerous look were the tattoos that marred her back, shoulders and forearms. It was a mixture of tribal marks, clouds and waves, and different symbols that paid respect to her origins, as well as Jackie´s personal beliefs, her strength. They showed her true self, the fierce woman that was a stark contrast with the elegant lady she displayed in front of Governor Swan and his daughter. Her movements had a grace similar to Mei Ling´s martial arts, combined with the precise force similar to Akira´s sword skills, yet had something in them that made her movements as fluid as water and dangerous as an unleashed hurricane. She was a force to be recognized, and her opponents didn’t stand a chance.

The rest of the crew looked at each other, and with a smirk, they joined to fight beside the other three.

Suddenly, the cursed living skeletons started to retreat. It was disorganized, but they were quickly moving back to the port and towards the black ship they had arrived on. Dark eyes narrowed seeing this, and she quickly hit one of them with a tracking spell, before they managed to disappear.

“Well, that was interesting,” Jacqueline muttered, once the cured crew was gone. “Of all things Barbosa had to get involved in…”

Coraline looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You know what was with them, captain?”

“Aye, but I had only heard about this curse from Ma Tia. I can be wrong,” the brunette replied. “Either way, it would explain why the compass was having difficulties finding the ship. That curse is ancient and seeped deep into their beings, which likely heavily interfered with the ability of my compass. That makes it dangerous,” she closed her eyes for a moment, before she opened them and with a hard look, she turned to her crew. “We´ll head to the ship and you´ll make sure it is ready to head out tomorrow. I´m going to dive into the books with my notes of Ma Tia´s teaching to be sure whether it is that curse or not. Afterwards, once we can, we´ll leave Port Royal and set to Tortuga to pick up the group waiting for us there, for we´re going to need all the help we can find to deal with this. Barbosa is a tricky bastard to deal with and who knows how much worse this curse made him. So, once we gain on them, we need to be careful and on high alert, savvy?”

“Aye, captain!”

The next morning the crew was woken up by an unwanted surprise that left a lot of them with a sour taste in their mouths. Namely in the form of young James Norrington visiting their ship because, apparently, somebody partially overheard their conversation, the previous night, and reported it to him. Nobody from the crew was pleased by this, just like their captain, but she knew better than to just send the marine away. So, reluctantly, she brought him to her cabin.

“Make yourself at home, commodore. This conversation might take a while,” the captain gestured around the cabin before she went to the small desk with varying drinkable beverages. “May I offer you some refreshments? Tea, or some coffee?”

“No, thank you, captain Lemoineau,” the commodore refused. “I´m on duty,” he added, trying not to look at the black cat that was observing him from the massive work table.

“Suit yourself,” she shrugged before she made herself a strong cup of coffee. She needed it after the all-nighter she pulled, going through all her books. “As I believe wasting time with this might cause more harm than good, I ask: What exactly do you want to know from me?”

“…very well,” the man nodded his head in acknowledgement before he questioned: “As I said, some witnesses claim they heard you say that you know something about this attack. About the… walking skeletons… that attacked us last night. I want you to tell me everything that you know.”

“They were part of the same crew and they were cursed for taking what was not theirs to have,” replied Jacqueline, turning to face him. “When my crewmates described the crew of the ship that came in, I immediately knew who was it: my former first mate, Hector Barbosa and his crew,” she paused, seeing the way he tensed, then nodded to herself, “I have no doubt you´ve heard of him, commodore, he made himself infamous, during the nearly ten years, since our ways parted. I´ve been looking for him for nearly the same amount of time, for reasons that are my own. During that time, I had little luck finding him, but after yesterday, I figured out why. Barbosa and his crew had been cursed by an ancient curse of the nation once known as Aztecs, which made them difficult to track down. The cure is one that my godmother, the voodoo witch Tia Dalma, warned me about.”

“Pardon?” Norrington blinked in surprise, fearing he misheard, and she chuckled at his reaction.

“I get that look on your face – yes, love, it might be strange that my godmother is a voodoo witch, but my mother is a practical woman and thought that powers like Ma Tia´s are better on my side than on the enemies. Anyway, Ma Tia warned me that while there are many unclaimed treasures out there, some have a high price to pay. Among them was a treasure found on Isla de Muerta. Piles of Aztec gold that carried a terrific curse – it could trap you between the land living and dead, in the form you saw last night. As living skeletons, feeling nothing and experiencing nothing, slowly sinking into emptiness and despair. I don´t know all the details, for I never saw the curse in actions myself. So, up until last night, I only had my Ma Tia´s words to go by.”

Silence fell upon them, as Norrington absorbed her words, while the quarter-mermaid sipped her coffee, waiting for his next questions. Jacqueline leaned back against the table, sipping her coffee, as she mussed over what she could and could not disclose without endangering her crew or revealing too much about herself. Seeing her deep in thought, Caspian got up from his sitting position and moved closer to his mistress, rubbing his black furry head against her side. He kept at it until she reached out and started scratching his head. Then he leaned against her, orange eyes half closed, but never leaving the man in the cabin. The brunette didn´t even need to look at the cat to know he was displeased. She could tell that he hated Norrington´s presence, in the cabin that was his and her sanctuary and would like nothing more than to use his claws to get rid of him. Or do worse, if the navy made a move that could endanger Jackie.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the Navy spoke up.

“Had I not seen those skeletons last night, I might not have believed you, captain Lemoineau,” the navy member finally admitted. “But as it stands, last night´s events provided more than enough proof, however insane it seems.”

At least he wasn´t a coward or in denial.

It was clear to her that the man was very reluctant to say that, but he was not someone to ignore the obvious. He can face the facts and deal with it then she could respect him.

The brunette kept those thoughts to herself, as she shrugged her shoulders. “Then you probably had not yet sailed around the world much, for this is not the craziest nor scariest thing out there. After all, this curse is one of those that can be broken, according to Ma Tia.”

“Can be broken?” he repeated after her, interest clear in his voice. “So, that means they can be made human again?”

“Aye. If they had already spent the treasure, by the time they got cursed, then they needed to gather everything they spent and bring it back to Isla de Muerta, where they found it. My guess is that they raided Port Royal in search of a piece or pieces of that treasure. From what Ma Tia said, when I asked, they can somehow sense where it ends up, once the curse sets in after they spent it.”

“I see. So, you think they will now head back to this… Isla de Muerta?” Norrington inquired.

“Maybe,” she stressed before she sighed “That depends on whether they now have all the pieces of the treasure, or whether they still need to look for the rest.” But if they didn´t collect all of the cursed gold during those ten years, then they have less luck than she thought. “If they need more, then they´ll continue searching. If they´ve it all, they´ll head to Isla de Muerta to return the gold and to make a sacrifice to appease whatever force is fuelling the curse. Only then, they´ll be free to live as humans once again.”

“Which means there is an equal chance that they´ll disappear from us again as there is that they will head to the island,” the commodore mussed to himself and asked, “Do you know where the island is, just in case?”

Without looking, Jacqueline reached behind herself and took the copy she had of the map leading to the island, then held it out to him. It wasn´t like there weren´t several copies of each map they had, just in case. Matty made drawing the copies his free time activity, after all. They could spare one for the Navy. Besides, they could make a great distraction for later, as well as meat shields when needed.

Green eyes blinked in surprise, but their owner stepped closer and took the map, looking it over and taking in every detail. “Thank you, captain. This will be helpful, as well as everything you told me just now.”

“You´re welcome.”

“I´ll take my leave then…” Norrington started, rolling up the map, only to trail off, as if he remembered something. And it was clearly something bad, judging from the way his body tensed and his eyes widened. “Pardon me, but when you mentioned the way Barbosa´s crew can break their cures, what sacrifice did you mean?”

“That…is something I can´t give you an answer to,” Jacqueline admitted. “Ma Tia never elaborated on that, since it is something, you can only learn about if you witness it yourself… or know someone who witnessed. But considering we´re talking about the Aztecs, I wouldn´t be surprised if it was some form of blood sacrifice.”

That seemed to do it for the man, for he quickly vacated the cabin, with a quick excuse, making the dark-eyed woman blink.

“What was that about?” Jackie asked, looking at her companion for answers.

“Meow.”

“Yeah, me neither. Once we head out, I´ll go to bed. This all-nighter might have been too much for me,” she sighed.

The black cat nodded, thinking his Jackie needed to take better care of herself if she wanted to take down that treacherous crew once and for all. He quickly jumped up onto her shoulders, like some furry parrot and they both headed out to meet up with the rest of the crew. There she gave them a quick run-down of her discussion with Norrington and that they might likely run into the Navy, in their pursuit of the Black Pearl.

“Now, better to get ready and leave, if we want to get a head start. Akira, Coraline, Cotton, you´re coming with me to pick up our weapons from the blacksmith. Gibbs, Ling, make sure the ship is ready to sail out, by the time we return.”

“Aye, captain!”

But they ran into another unexpected surprise when they came to the blacksmith´s forge.

“Can you repeat that, mate? I think I misheard you,” Jacqueline requested, looking at the young man in front of him.

“I heard that you´re going after the pirates that attacked us last night. I would like to ask you to let me come with you,” the brunet replied with a serious look on his face, and she could already feel a headache forming.

“Why?” Coraline questioned curtly, eying the male with a cold frown. Besides her, Akira´s dark eyes narrowed in distrust.

“Last night they kidnapped someone important to me and I want to save them. I know it won´t be easy and you have no reason to listen to my request. But I have experience with sailing on a ship and I´m ready to take on any task you give me, to prove my worth and earn a place on your ship.”

Jaqueline managed to suppress a twitch, but it was a near thing. His words filled him with a strong sense of déjà vu. She remembered a similar yet different conversation, from before two decades ago, when a certain lassie begged to join her first crew. Later she left it after she met her soulmate, along with said soulmate…who had a similar expression on his face when he asked her to marry them. Wait a moment. This blacksmith said his name was William Turner. And he didn´t look older than two decades at most… oh! That was why he seemed familiar when she first met him! He was their kid!

She tried to hold back a small smile that threatened to appear on her face, as she inquired “That someone is a lass, isn´t she?”

The trio plus one cat immediately picked up that certain hidden amusement in her voice. It was a hidden type of amusement reserved for subtle teasing of those she is fond of but has a not-so-close relationship with. Usually, this was reserved for her cousin Valerie…or those who were related to her first crew, but she had never interacted with them before. With that in mind, they all took a closer look at the young man, trying to think about who might he be related to.

Oblivious to the sudden inspective looks of the crew, William managed to keep his face calm, despite the blush that appeared on his face, which was all the confirmation she needed. “She is a great friend of mine and means a lot to me. I want to make sure she returns home safely and that no harm comes to her from the pirate group.”

“Nu-huh. What is this lass´ name?”

“Elizabeth Swan, ma´am.”

That made Jaqueline pause for a moment, as she realized that Norrington´s sudden departure from her cabin made a lot more sense now. After all, what dutiful spouse-to-be wouldn´t panic, once he realized that his fiancé was kidnapped by a bunch of cursed pirates? Although it seemed to make things more difficult for the blacksmith boy in front of her. She couldn´t imagine that William´s efforts in saving someone else´s fiancé would be appreciated, even if he and the girl might be just friends. Even if Elizabeth was someone as important as the governor´s daughter. Particularly, since she could tell that William saw her as more than just a friend.

That might turn ugly.

“Right. Do you realize that this might not be the best way to impress your fair lady, young man? If you want to come with us and after the cursed crew, there is a strong possibility that you might not live long enough to bring her back, or that she might not be alive, by the time we catch up with them…” …and if he was their son, then she didn´t want to have his death on her consciousness. They would probably never forgive her.

“I´m not naïve enough to think everything will be alright or that nobody gets hurt. But I have to try, for Elizabeth and her father, who had been nothing but kind to me. I would do everything for her.”

“Even die for her?” she inquired, raising an elegant eyebrow.

“Yes,” William replied without hesitation.

Damn, he gets this from Billy, the brunette thought with a soft sigh. And if he was as stubborn as his mother had been, then there was no way he would give up, once he made up his mind about something. If he wanted to go save the governor´s daughter, he would find a ship that would take him or sneak on the nearest one that left the port. Then, he would wind up who knows where, since she firmly doubted that he had any idea about where to go from Port Royal. The female captain only hoped that this lassie appreciated what this boy was risking for her. And that she wouldn´t regret this.

She looked him up and down before she nodded to herself. “Alright then. Welcome abroad, love.” The brunette caught the blacksmith´s surprised look, clearly not expecting her to agree, and she grinned. “But don´t think for a moment that we´ll go easy on you. Since you´re a newbie, you´re delegated to the duty of a cabin boy.”

That seemed to cheer up her companions, who immediately employed the younger man to help them carry their weapons. Much to their amusement, William even threw in a few weapons he kept and repaired for his personal collection after their original owner discharged them once they broke. Atta boy, the brunette thought with a small smirk, noticing how Coraline also approved of the collection. That didn’t surprise the brunette, since the redhead was known for picking up some interesting things in a similar way. Like that one time with the pretty carved-up stone, that turned out to be a lost relict from an island temple.

Shaking off her wayward thoughts, Jacqueline paid for the work done on their weapons and led her group back to the docks, where she gave a quick rundown to their crewmates, about the unexpected addition. Once she introduced him, she gave her friends orders to pull up the anchor and sail out. William was quickly pulled along by Cotton and Marty to help them with the work.

“You picked up another stray, Jackie,” commented Gibbs, as he joined her by the wheel. “Though, this is quick even for you.”

“He is not much of a stray, but a friend´s lovesick puppy,” muttered Jacqueline as she steered the wheel, making him look at her. “He is Bootstrap Bill and Bella Donna´s kid.”

“The little rascal he told you about?” the older man asked in surprise. “I thought he was lost to the sea, when he went to look for his father, after Donna´s death.”

“So did I, Gibbs. So did I,” she sighed softly. “And it is one of the times I´m glad to be wrong.”

“Are you sure he is their kid?”

“Aye. Bootstrap said his wife named the kid after him, he is the right age and I can tell he inherited a lot from both of them. It´s why I took him with us, otherwise he might have gone off on his own and who knows where he would have ended.”

“I see. Did you tell him…?”

“Not yet. He didn´t seem to recognize me, nor did he seem to realize the true nature of this crew. Yet,” she emphasized the last word, making her first mate smirk.

“So, you want to wait, until he figures it out or until the others spring it on him, once we meet up with them?” the man asked. "He should certainly know before he runs into the twins."

She hummed in thought. “If he got his smarts from Donna, then he´ll figure it out before we reach Tortuga.”

“Will you tell him how close you were with his parents? That you introduced them and everything else?”

“If he asks, I´ll tell him everything I know. But I guess there are still things I have no knowledge of.” Like what happened with his father, went unsaid between the two of them.

Jacqueline just hoped that she would be able to protect the son of her good friend against the odds of this situation. Even if she might not have been able to do anything to help her friend after they separated nearly ten years ago. The brunette was not going to lie about the fact that her priorities changed slightly, with young Turner´s presence on board. And she vowed that she would kill Barbosa before he managed to harm William.