The trip on the Interceptor lasted for quite a while. During the trip, they dealt with a couple ambushes with some pirates and Heartless. Everybody did their fair share of working the ship while defending it. All the time, Sparrow kept a watchful eye on the compass, to which everyone discovered didn't point North.
"I wonder how he's gonna find the Black Pearl with a compass that doesn't point North?" Velvet wondered. Laphicet and Sora thought the same question, and Laphicet decided to ask Sparrow, only for him to reply, "We aren't looking for North, now are we?" This confused Laphicet even more. Was there something special about that compass he didn't bother telling them?
After the second day, they found themselves still in open waters sailing on a path to which they didn't know. Sora kept looking back at Sparrow, who was still eyeing the compass.
Finally, he asked, "Why are you so fixated on that compass?" Everybody turned to Sparrow, waiting for his reply.
"It'll be she that leads us to the Isla de Muerta, where Barbossa's headed. Savvy?" he answered.
"How do you know?" Sora asked.
"Ah, lad..." sighed the pirate captain, "He and I once had our eyes on a treasure; Aztec gold. 'Twas hidden on the Isla de Muerta. But he turned traitor and stole my ship."
"So he's after that treasure, then." Velvet presumed.
"Treasure's already his." Sparrow replied, "So's the curse upon it." Now they understood how come the pirates were able to become living skeletons. "I've no desire for such treacherous spoils." Sparrow continued, "But I will have back what's mine; the Black Pearl." He resumed his duties on the wheel of the ship, and the conversation ended.
For a long time, it was pretty much silent as they voyaged on. During the next evening, Sparrow was still at the wheel alone, when Velvet came up to him, holding an unopened bottle of rum.
"I assume you need a refill." She asked the captain at the wheel.
"Aye. That I do." Sparrow answered eagerly, taking the drink and pouring it down his throat. Velvet sat herself down on a barrel and watched the captain at the helm.
"Tell me," Velvet asked, knowing that Eizen and his crew acted differently from Sparrow. "Just how are you still here when Barbossa took your ship? Shouldn't he have killed you during the mutiny?"
"Ah, as a commoner, you would think so." Sparrow replied, "However, that's not rightful in the Pirate Code."
"Pirates have a set of rules here?" Velvet questioned.
"Aye." the captain responded, "Instead of killing me outright, they marooned me instead on a deserted island, with nothing but a pistol with a single shot, as the law says." Velvet looked at the pistol in his holster. In battle, he never used the pistol. He used throwing knives and bombs, but never the pistol.
"Did you use it?" Velvet asked. Sparrow shook his head.
"I saved it, lad." he corrected her. "I managed to stay on that island for three weeks before my escape."
"And how did you do so?" Velvet asked.
"By wading me self into the waters for three days and nights, then I spotted a couple of sea turtles, roped them together, and made a raft." Velvet wondered if that was possible, but then thought of one small part of his story.
"Where'd you get the rope?" Velvet asked him.
"Human hair, on my back." Sparrow answered. Velvet felt disgusted at this and decided to finish questioning him after that.
"Now it be my turn to ask ye some questions." Sparrow told her, "Why's a young girl like yourself dressed like a pirate?" The therion became a bit irritated at the statement.
"First thing: I didn't chose to dress like this and second: I'm basically a pirate if being in a pirate crew counts." Velvet explained, thinking back on her journey. "I've been traveling with a crew of pirates and their first mate as they searched for their missing captain. Ever heard about Captain Van Aifred?"
"Yes, lass. A mysterious pirate that disappears when he's going to the end of the world." Sparrow answered. "He's an old legend between pirates alike."
"I met him once but only for breath second. Their first mate tested me and my companions when we first met and helped us quite a bit even though I was focused on a selfish goal, I even kidnapped a child while destroying a whole village."
"And I am to presume that at some point in your life, you would have met that young lad there along with that boy and his friends." Sparrow guessed.
"Yeah." Velvet answered, seeing Laphicet leaning over the side of the ship as he talked to Will, "I met him a long time ago and he became a big part of my life after that. Sora and the others I met a few weeks ago. During the times when I met Laphicet, giving him a name and personality, I was known as an cold blooded killer and a monster, a warrior and I thought I could do things on my own. However, through trial and error, I realized that my goal was much more complicated and I needed as much help that I could in order to help people to take care of themselves instead of relying on someone else to do stuff for them."
"There is a set of rules for which you must follow in life, Velvet." Sparrow answered, and this was the first time Sparrow addressed her by name, "The rules are a simple one; what a man can do and what a man cannot do. For example, I can drown you. But I cannot bring this ship all the way to the Isle de Muerta on my own. Learning what your rules are in life are what make you strong. Savvy?"
Velvet looked up at him, she thought about the many times she told her friends to follow their own paths but they followed her journey no matter the consequences or their goals. Her emotions and friends made her strong enough to fight Artorius and eventually, kill him.
"Land ho!" Donald shouted up at the crow's nest. Everybody looked towards the direction where Donald was pointing at. There, sure enough, was an island. Velvet absentmindedly looked at Sparrow's compass. The needle was pointing straight at it. Guess it did work after all.
They docked themselves alongside a rocky path to a cave, and got off. "You lads and lass wait here." Sparrow told the five heroes, "Young Turner and I will rescue the lady."
"Hey! What about us?" barked Sora.
"You're to guard the ship, o' course." Sparrow responded, "It's a task given only to the bravest pirates."
"You think were suckers?" Velvet asked him, then sighed, "Still, I think we can manage. Fine then."
"Guard her well!" Sparrow told them, and he turned to leave before turning to Will and asking, "You ready?" Will nodded, and they dashed along the path towards the cave. The rest of them gathered onto the ship, and waited.
"He was definitely just trying to fast-talk us before," Velvet told the others, "And you guys fell for it."
"Technically, I knew what he was doing, but I decided to go with it." Laphicet corrected her, "Still, I do think he knows what he's doing. After all, we made it this far thanks to him."
"I guess." Sora replied, sitting on a crate, waiting.
They waited for an hour, meandering the deck and the harbor while they were waiting.
"What's keeping those two?" Sora asked.
"They sure are taking their time..." Goofy noticed.
"If Pete's hanging around, there must be Heartless here, too." Sora assumed.
"Definitely." Velvet agreed, about to walk off the ship, "Jack and Will aren't used to fighting Heartless. Wanna go check?" The others nodded, and they walked off the ship, and towards the caves.
Meanwhile, Sparrow led Will around to a spot where they had a secluded view of the scene below them. They saw an open area, with gold and trinkets scattered about the room. In the center was a pile of gold, and a large stone chest stood on top, which revealed a plentiful amount of Aztec gold, and Barbossa, who had the monkey on his shoulder, and Elizabeth stood around it. Around the pile, pirates were cheering in finding the last gold coin, along with someone to give blood to it. Pete stood in a corner, fingering through all the gold in the cavern.
"Every last piece that went astray we have returned, save for this!" Barbossa said, pointing to Elizabeth and the medallion in his hand, "And now, the blood will be repaid to free us from this curse forever!"
-
The five heroes ran down the stone shoreline towards the caves. There were Heartless scattered in every path they took, including Hammer Frames and new winged Heartless called Air Pirates. As they were about to go further into the cave, the crew heard footsteps, and saw Will running towards them with Elizabeth at his side.
"Quick, they're after us!" Will warned them, and they turned to see some of the pirates coming at them.
"We'll hold them off!" Sora told Will as the group raised their weapons, "Give us a sign when the ship's ready to sail!"
"Right! We'll light the signal fire!" Will said.
"Wait, where's Jack?" Laphicet asked Will as he left.
"We can ask him later!" Velvet responded, "Right now, it's time to slay some pirates!" Laphicet looked at Velvet, then at the pirates nearing them, and decided to focus himself on buying some time. The five of them charged in for the fight.
While there was a large space of moonlight in the spot they were in, there were also spots of shade here and there, so the problem of dealing with the pirates was to bring them out of the shady areas and into the moonlight, where they were vulnerable. Not to mention that every time they took one down, there was another one coming.
Finally, after a few minutes of fending off the pirates, Sora looked back at the ship, and noticed smoke coming from it. "The signal!" he shouted to the others, and they turned, saw it, and ran off to it. The pirates were attempting to chase after them, but as they got out of the cave, Laphicet shot water and thunder attacks at them, striking the pirates in the moonlight, and destroying them.
As the crew got onto the Interceptor again, Laphicet ran up to Will and repeated, "Where's Jack?"
"Well..." Will responded slowly.
Flashback
"And now, the blood will be repaid to free us from this curse forever!" Barbossa said as he approached Elizabeth. Back in the hiding spot, Will got impatient and was about to go in.
"No, not yet." Sparrow told him, "We wait for the opportune moment."
"When it's of greatest profit to you?" Will retorted.
"May I ask you something?" Sparrow asked, "Have I ever given you reason not to trust me? Stay here, and try not to do anything stupid." He walked pass Will and was about to sneak in when Will grabbed a nearby oar, and smacked it over Sparrow's head, knocking him out, then he proceeded in.
Up at the stone chest, Barbossa reached for Elizabeth's hand, and cut her palm with a knife, rubbing her blood onto the medallion.
"Is that it?" she asked.
"Waste not." Barbossa responded, and he tilted her hand over the chest as he chanted, "Begun by blood...by blood undone." and forced her to drop the medallion into the chest full of gold.
For a while, there was silence, and Barbossa spread his arms out, waiting to feel the change in his body, but it never came. He looked around, perplexed, then he turned to Elizabeth angrily and grabbed her arm.
"You! Maid!" he snapped, "Your father. Was your father William Turner?!"
"No." Elizabeth responded simply. Barbossa looked shocked, then he smacked Elizabeth down the hill of gold, where she tumbled down, barely conscious.
"I don't understand!" said one pirate.
"What's going on?" asked another pirate.
"Who brought this wench to us?" Barbossa questioned the crew.
"She said her name was Turner!" responded a pirate.
As the pirates argued, the medallion fell out of the stone chest and down to Elizabeth, who was stirring. She had just grabbed it when Will grabbed her hand.
"Hurry!" he said, lifting her up and bringing him back the way he came. The monkey saw them escape, and pointed it out to Barbossa.
"You there!" he shouted to the two escapees, then saw what they were carrying, "The medallion! After them, you ingrates!" The pirates started to pursue them out the room, and through the caves.
Flashback ends
"...I had to." Will told the five heroes, "Jack's no fairytale pirate. The real ones aren't to be trusted."
"You don't have to tell me twice." Velvet responded, "I didn't trust him from the start." She walked away from the others, and up to the stern of the ship and grabbed the wheel. "So, shall we be off?"
"Guess so." Sora answered.
"Then let's make our escape!" Will shouted, and everybody got into positions as Velvet brought the ship out to sea.
They had to take down a few pirates that boarded their ship as they proceeded, but it wasn't a big deal. Down in the captain's quarters, Will was wrapping up Elizabeth's cut hand.
"Is it true? You gave Barbossa my name instead of yours." Will asked her, "Why choose my name?"
"I don't know." Elizabeth responded, looking down at the medallion in her hand.
"Elizabeth...where did you get that?" Will asked, seeing the medallion.
"It's yours." she answered, "From that day we found you-drifting at sea."
"After all this time..." Will sighed, "I thought I'd lost it. It was a gift from my father...he sent it to me." Elizabeth handed the medallion over to Will.
"I'm sorry." she said as Will looked at it. "Why did you take it?" he asked her. "Because I was afraid that you were a pirate." Elizabeth answered tearfully, "That would have been awful."
Will stood up and walked away from Elizabeth. "Of course..." he realized, "Don't you see? It wasn't your blood they needed...it was my father's blood; my blood. The blood...of a pirate."
On the Black Pearl, the Barbossa was pacing around Jack Sparrow, who upper body was tied by rope.
"How the blazes did you get off that island, Jack?" he asked him.
"When you sailed away in my ship and marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land, with naught but a pistol and a single shot," Sparrow started, "you forgot one very important thing, mate; I'm Captain Jack Sparrow.
Barbossa stopped pacing and looked at Sparrow. "I won't be makin' that mistake again." he responded.
"Then what say you to puttin' the past behind us, untying these ropes, and letting me negotiate the return of your medallion, eh? What say you to that?"
"Seein' as how the Black Pearl's mine now, Jack, lettin' you doesn't seem to fall within my interest." Barbossa answered.
"Odd," said Sparrow, his voice getting somewhat angrier, "I'm not actually concerned with your interest. Give me back the Pearl!" Barbossa laughed off Sparrow's demands and told the crew, "All right! Lock him in the brig!"
Just as one of the pirates was about to drag Sparrow off, the pirate from the stern shouted, "We're comin' up on the Interceptor. What do we do, Captain?"
"Whaddya think, you idiot?" Barbossa responded sternly.
On the Interceptor, everybody was on the top deck, while Velvet was still at the wheel. Elizabeth was looking out to see when she spotted the Black Pearl coming at them.
"Will, look!" she shouted, bringing everyone's attention to the incoming ship. All but Velvet gathered next to Elizabeth's side.
"What now?" Donald asked them.
"I wonder what Jack would do?" Sora asked.
"Something absolutely crazy." Laphicet responded with a smile.
"Or maybe he would just run for it." Will guessed.
"Sounds good to me!" Sora agreed, but he was stopped by the sudden shaking of their ship. The Black Pearl was firing cannonballs at them. Everybody tumbled around the ship. Velvet struggled to hold on tight to the wheel. Will fell overboard.
"Will!" Elizabeth shouted, looking down below.
"Get down!" Sora shouted, grabbing Elizabeth and shoving her down to the ground.
"Everyone hit the deck!" Goofy cried as another cannon blast knocked the ship around again, forcing everyone, even Velvet, to fall to the ground.
Suddenly, Sora noticed the medallion on the ground, and picked it up.
"We're just gonna have to fight!" he declared to the others.
"Sounds good to me." Laphicet responded, "Velvet, take us around!"
"You got it!" Velvet replied, reaching for the wheel again and turning the ship towards the Black Pearl, ready for a fight. "Everyone! Ready the cannons!"
"Aye, aye!" They shouted, and the group scattered to find stuff to put into the cannons.
As they got along side the Black Pearl, pirates swung from ropes onto the Interceptor. Sora, Velvet, Laphicet, Donald and Goofy all brought their weapons out, and started to attack the enemy. The battle against the pirates were crazy, and they were happening around the ship.
The Black Pearl was doing its' own damage by shooting cannonballs onto the deck, nearly taking the heroes out. Velvet retaliated by firing one of the cannons, and pushing the Pearl away from the Interceptor. Just as he did so, he heard's Jack Sparrow's voice cry, "Stop blowin' holes in my ship!"
"Jack?" Velvet asked, surprised, then she detected a pirate coming right behind her, and clashed swords with him.
Sora, meanwhile, was dealing with a couple of troublesome pirates, who kept getting out of the moonlight. One of them struck Sora hard, and it relinquished him of the medallion. One of the pirates grabbed it, and started to go back to the Pearl.
"Guys! He's got the medallion!" Sora shouted to the others. Laphicet saw him, and aimed a water arte at him, freezing him in his place.
"Looks like I have to use that." Velvet said to herself, the ring glow blue as she changed into her new armatus. The blue armatus had the power of water and ice so the Artes were useful against the Pirates. Velvet shoots the arrows into the sizes she wanted or how many at once. "This is really nice." Then she saw the pirate she froze before started to move again. "No you don't!" she shouted, and she released a big arrow at the pirate, knocking him out and grabbing the medallion. "Sora!" she cried, waving the medallion in the air. Sora gave her a thumbs up, and knocked out the pirate he was dealing with. After a couple of more attacks, Velvet switched back to normal.
Once they knocked out every pirate that came on board, the crew shot a multiple amount of cannon fire at the Black Pearl, sending it smoking.
"Hooray!" shouted Donald.
"We beat the pirates!" Sora said proudly.
"Well, did you now, laddie?" said a voice from behind them.
They whipped around and saw Barbossa with more pirates, and Elizabeth and Jack Sparrow at their mercy. Sparrow merely chuckled in embarrassment when they saw him part of the captives. The group looked around, and saw they became surrounded. Pete was part of the crew, too.
"Now then, I'll be having back that medallion." said Barbossa, pointing at the medallion in Velvet's hand. He walked forward to take it, but the group took a fighting stance. "Unless it's more important than their lives?"
Suddenly, the monkey came from nowhere, and stole the medallion from Velvet. He then leapt over onto Barbossa's shoulder, and gave the gold to him. "Why thank you, Jack." he thanked.
"You're welcome." Sparrow answered.
"Not you. We named the monkey 'Jack'." Barbossa corrected him as the monkey grinned.
"Ha, ha. Very amusing." Velvet said in a sarcastic tone.
"Barbossa!" called out a familiar voice. Everyone turned to see Will standing on the opposite edge of the boat, a gun raised at Barbossa. "She goes free!" he shouted, meaning Elizabeth.
"Go ahead boy-shoot! We can't die." Barbossa warned him.
"Please don't do something crazy..." whispered Sparrow.
"You can't..." Will responded, redirecting the gun to his head, "but I can." Everyone looked shocked at this.
"...like that." Sparrow sighed.
"Who are ye?" questioned a bemused Barbossa. Sparrow was about to intrude when Will answered, "My name is Will Turner! My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner! His blood runs in my veins!"
"Eh?!" said a shocked Barbossa.
"On my word, do as I say," Will warned the pirates, "or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' Locker."
"He's as crazy as Jack." Velvet whispered.
"Name your terms...Mr. Turner." Barbossa asked.
"Release Elizabeth!" ordered Will.
"Yes, we got that." Barbossa replied, "Anythin' else?"
"Sora, Donald, Goofy, Velvet, and Laphicet, too! Set them free as well!" Will added.
"Is that it then?" Barbossa asked him. Sparrow was looking desperately at Will.
"Leave now!" Will ordered. Sparrow looked defeated.
"Agreed." Barbossa responded with a bow, "Leave we shall...but the Heartless stay!" Suddenly from behind, the heroes heard Pete's laugh. They turned to see him knock Will out, and carry him away. They were about to give chase when Air Pirates blocked their path to him.
"No fair!" Sora shouted.
Velvet was about to charge in, but she was hit from behind by an Air Pirate, and knocked out. Everything else was nothing but a blur.