Fight For The Right

42~ Up is Down

*Maddie's P.O.V*

Sunset slowly passed and we are still sailing perfectly. Jack and Barbossa have continued to try and out pace the other in the role as Captain, and Gibbs and I have even taken to keeping scores. I believe some of the crew even made bets as to who would win next time the position was challenged. So far, I think Barbossa is winning.

Due to losing half of the supplies when going over the waterfall, everyone in the crew has to ration the food out, meaning we aren't getting as much to eat as we would all like and often crew members were caught trying to steal some food. Many are asleep now, no doubt with half empty bellies, and I know from experience how hard it is to sleep on a half empty stomach.

Grapple and I are now standing at the rail, watching the calm surface of the water while Pintel and Ragetti are trying for a spot of fishing beside us. I sighed quietly, causing Grapple to glance at me. "Are you okay?"

I half nodded, half shook my head. "So many things are going on right now, I don't know if I even want to go back to the living world. I think it would be quite peaceful down here, don't you agree?"

He smirked. "I agree it would be peaceful and definitely not full of chaos. But being here for eternity is not something I'd fancy as the fate to anyone if they didn't deserve it."

I pondered on that. "Do you believe Jack deserved to be sent here, then?"

He flicked a few strands of his hair from his eyes. "Yes and no. I don't really know him like you or Gibbs do, so I can't say that I entirely believe he deserved what he got. But however long he was here for... I'd say it certainly made up for whatever small crimes he committed."

I smiled and turned back to the water. "Never thought of it that way -"

I was cut off by the sound of Ragetti exclaiming in horror, and we turned our heads to see him drop his fishing rod and leap away from the rail. Curious, we walked over to him and glanced down at the same time as him and Pintel. My eyes widened and I felt the sudden urge to be sick; hundreds of dead bodies were floating along past us in the water. They looked like ghosts but with no control over their movements. It sent chills down my spine.

"Eerie!" Pintel muttered from beside me. "That's downright macabre."

We stared at the bodies in silence for a moment longer. "I wonder what would happen if you dropped a cannonball on one of 'em..." Ragetti said suddenly, exchanging a look with his best friend. I rolled my eyes as they scurried off, laughing quietly to themselves.

"Whatever I said about staying here..." I whispered. "I take it all back."

Grapple chuckled but I could see he was just as freaked out at the sight below us as I was. From The corner of my eye I saw Tia Dalma approaching and I glanced at her sideways as she stood at the rail beside us. Before I could ask her anything, I recognized Pintel and Ragetti laughter behind me and turned to see them walking back over, each carrying a cannonball and no doubt struggling with the weight by the way they were stooped over. At the sight of Tia Dalma they both stopped laughing and dropped the cannonballs, letting them roll away.

"Be disrespectful, it would," Pintel hissed at Ratetti from the corner of his mouth.

"They should be in the care of Davy Jones," Tia Dalma said, her voice cold as she turned back to face the later. "That was the duty him was granted by the goddess Calypso." Now she had my attention, and the four of us turned to her. "To ferry those who die at sea to the other side, and every ten years... him could come ashore... to be with she who love him, truly."

My eyebrows furrowed slightly. It sounded like she either knew the story very well or she was speaking from experience...

"But the man has become a monster," she continued.