༺ T H E W I T C H ༻
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Deep in a misty jungle, Will and the crew sailed upriver in silence. The air was thick and the fog made the odd environment ever more unsettling.
"Why is Jack afraid of the open ocean?" Will asked Gibbs, peering ahead at the boat in front of him.
"Well, if you believe such things, there's a beast that does the bidding of Davy Jones. A fearsome creature with giant tentacles that'll suction your face clean off and drag an entire ship down to the crushing darkness. The Kraken. They say the stench of its breath is like . . . imagine, the last thing you know on God's green earth is the roar of the Kraken and the reeking odour of a thousand rotting corpses. If you believe such things."
"And the key will spare him that?"
"Well, that's the very question Jack wants answered. Bad enough even to go visit . . . her."
"Her?"
"Aye."
Night had fallen when the two boats reached a softly lighted house that was built partly atop a large tree. The boats docked and Jack grabbed the ladder that led to the door.
"No worries, mates. Tia Dalma and I go way back. Thick as thieves. Nigh inseparable, we are. Were. Have been. Before."
"I'll watch your back," said Gibbs, stepping onto dry land.
"It's me front I'm worried about."
Gibbs turned to Will. "Mind the boat."
In turn, he told Ragetti the same and followed after Jack. The pirate crept to the door and crouched as he pushed it open, surveying the candle-filled room. A woman was hunched over her desk but looked up when she heard the hinges squeak.
"Jack Sparrow," she smiled.
"Tia Dalma."
From the back of the house, something crashed. Tia closed her eyes and muttered in her native language before standing.
"I have something for you, Jack Sparrow. One moment." Slipping through a doorway, she went to assess the noise. There were hushed whispers but the crew could tell that whatever was being said was tense. Finally, Tia came back, a forced smile on her lips. She held tightly onto someone's arm and fought with them for a moment before she won, forcing them into the main room. What Jack saw made his heart stop and his blood run cold.
"I don't want to see him! He left me to die!"
The whole crew knew who it was, their accent and knife-like speech was uncanny.
"Catalina?" he muttered.
The woman crossed her arms. "Jack."
"What - what are you doing here?"
"I got lucky. Tia found me. What are you doing here?"
"Catalina, calm down," Tia ordered. "You know I demand payment."
Jack nodded. "I brought payment." Pintel came over with a covered cage and Jack removed the clothes where Jack the monkey sat. "Look." He took his pistol and shot the animal. "An undead monkey. Top that."
Tia took the cage and opened it, letting the monkey roam free.
"Don't! You've no idea how long it took us to catch that," said Gibbs.
"I have some idea," Cata responded, sitting in the chair Tia once resided.
"The payment is fair."
From his coat, Will pulled out the drawing and placed it on the table. "We're looking for this. And what it goes to."
"The compass you bartered from me, it cannot lead you to this?"
"Maybe. Why?"
She grinned and quietly laughed. "I hear you. Jack Sparrow does not know what he wants. Or do you know, but are loath to claim it as your own?"
Jack glanced at Cata, their eyes meeting. The emotion held behind his gaze caught her and pulled her in. She felt guilt and love, loss and hope. It scared her and before she could be pulled in further she looked elsewhere.
"Your key go to a chest," continued Tia Dalma. "And it is what lay inside the chest you seek, don't it?"
"What is inside?" asked Gibbs.
"Gold? Jewels?" Pintel suggested. "Unclaimed properties of a valuable nature?"
"Nothing bad, I hope," said Ragetti.
"You know of Davy Jones, yes? A man of the sea. A great sailor, until he run afoul of that which vex all men."
"What vexes all men?" questioned Will.
Tia chuckled. "What indeed?"
"The sea," said Gibbs.
"Sums," responded Pintel.
"The dichotomy of good and evil." That made everyone pause and look at Ragetti, perplexed.
Jack rolled his eyes before answering. "A woman."
"A woman." Tia glanced at Catalina, who just scowled more. "He fell in love."
"No, no, no, no. I heard it was the sea he fell in love with," argued Gibbs.
"Same story, different versions, and all are true. But if you want the sum of it all just look to your own captain for the truth. See, it was a woman as changing and harsh and untamable as the sea. Him never stopped loving her. But the pain it cause him was too much to live with but not enough to cause him to die."
Will had had enough of the story. "What exactly did he put into the chest?"
"Him heart."
"Literally or figuratively?" asked Ragetti.
"He couldn't literally put his heart in a chest." Pintel turned to Tia. "Could he?"
"It was not worth feeling what small, fleeting joy life brings. And so him carve out him heart, lock it away in a chest and hide the chest from the world. The key, he keep with him at all times"
Will stood and faced Jack. "You know this."
"I did not. I didn't know where the key was. But now we do. All that's left is climb aboard the Flying Dutchman, grab the key, you go back to Port Royal and save your bonnie lass." He turned to leave but Tia stood and demanded to see his hand. With hesitation, he did as she said, removing the bandage on his palm.
All gasped when they saw the black spot, even Catalina. he wished a lot of things on Jack but not this.
"The Blackspot!" The crew shouted, spinning about.
"My eyesight's as good as ever, just so you know," Jack told them in defence.
"I have just the thing, now where did I put it?" Muttered Tia from the back of the room. "My little beauty, where are you? Such a long time in such a mess. Davy Jones cannot make port. Cannot step on land but once every ten years. Land is where you are safe, Jack Sparrow, and so you will carry land with you." She held up a large jar of sand to him.
He took it and stared for a moment. "Dirt . . . This is a jar of dirt."
"Yes."
"Is the jar of dirt going to help?"
"If you don't want it, give it back."
"No." He turned and hugged the jar close.
"Then it helps."
Will took half a step closer to the woman. It seems we have a need to find the Flying Dutchman."
Tia Dalma gave a curt nod and collected the bones on her desk. Closing her eyes, she shook them gently. "A touch of destiny." They dropped on the table, forming a map of islands. "I believe you know this place." She said to Cata.
The young woman's eyes widened, understanding what Tia meant. "No."
"Yes. Go with them, you cannot risk tempting fate again."
"Fate?" Pintel questioned.
Tia pointed to Jack but kept an eye on Cata. "There is a reason you two found each other. Separated you shall be no more. Now, go, you have wasted precious time!"
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