stowaway || j. norrington

15

By order of Jack Sparrow, the pirate lords went around voting for who should be named as the pirate king. It was a tedious and wasteful business, but it ended with delight.

"Elizabeth Swann."

Jack had used his one vote on Elizabeth rather than himself, sending everyone into an uproar. This very fair and legal move was upsetting everyone and, quite frankly, Frances was sick of the noise in the room. Pirates.

"Am I to understand that you lot will not be keeping to the code, then?"

Mistress Ching stood once again. "Very well. What say you, Captain Swann, king of the Brethren Court?"

Everyone looked silently at Elizabeth. Ever the diplomat, she was complaining unphased and prepared for this new title. "Prepare every vessel that floats. At dawn... we're at war."

The pirates celebrated, cheering out in their own various languages. Frances made her way to Elizabeth.

"King of the Brethren Court? You're moving up in the ranks."

Elizabeth whipped around at the sound of her friend's voice. "Frankie?" The two girls rushed forward, embracing each other. "How on Earth are you here? You're supposed to be at Port Royal!"

"Well, Lord Beckett got bored of me and tried to kill me, so I decided that it would be a better idea to flee. Even after I got betrothed to James. Really, I think he just wanted to kill me either way."

"Oh, Frances, I have to tell y—" Whatever Elizabeth was going to say was cut off by Villanueva calling for help.

Frances excused herself and ran over to her captain. They were boarding the ship to prepare for the attack. Frances adjusted her hat and mentally prepared herself for what was to come.

They sailed out to meet Beckett's fleet. The Centurion pulled up next to the Black Pearl. Frances stationed herself beside the Captain.

"Protect yourself, my dear. Do not do anything rash or reckless, and help your friends on the Black Pearl when the battle begins."

She nodded at his words and watched as Beckett's massive fleet emerged from the fog.

Elizabeth, Jack, and Barbossa met Beckett, Davy Jones, and Will on the sand bar between them. Frances hadn't even thought of Will in her time on the Centurion, much less of where his allegiance lay.

She squinted, watching as Jack and Will switched places and the latter returned to the Black Pearl's dinghy.

Frances watched intently as the crew of the Pearl released Calypso. Tia Dalma grew larger and larger until eventually she was as tall as the mast.

She began screaming an incantation before erupting into thousands of crabs, which all slipped over the edge of the ship, leaving any trace of the sea goddess gone for good.

Elizabeth stood on the railing of the ship, shouting out a speech to her crew, but she was facing the wrong way for Frances to hear. Everyone cheered, and Elizabeth shouted out, "Hoist the colours!"

The command rang through every ship, and Villanueva's men rushed the raise the flag. Frances readied herself next to the helm, sword drawn.

She felt drips of rain that soon turned to a downpour, followed by lightning and thunder. "¡Vorágine!" One of Villanueva's crewmen called out. Sure enough, the sudden maelstrom was beginning to draw the ships into a whirlpool.

The Black Pearl sailed out to meet the Flying Dutchman, heading straight for the center of the whirlpool. Both ships were tilting dangerously to the side.