𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐊, head turned towards the shadowy water. leech was at the helm, and she wasn't tired enough to sleep.
she was left to her own thoughts about what might be bothering jack. over the past year, the two had never fallen out of love. however, they weren't exactly making much profit in terms of pirating. bella knew something was wrong with the captain; something was definitely vexing him. but for now, it was silent.
then, she heard the door to jack's cabin swing open. now was her chance; there was almost nobody on the deck.
"jack!"
"eh?"
"do we have a heading?"
"steady as she goes," jack said dismissively. bella looked back at leech apologetically, then jumped off the railing and followed jack.
"where are you going?"
"i need a drink," jack said, softer now as they passed by the crew sleeping. "as you were, gents."
they descended another flight of stairs, and jack grabbed his keys from his coat. he unlocked the door to the cellar, then hung the keys on the wall. they walked down an aisle, and jack stopped to look at some sea creatures infesting a shelf. they were pretty nasty.
bella took jack's free hand in hers. she was about to ask him what was wrong, but he spotted a bottle and pulled away from her to grab it.
jack tipped it over, but it was just full of sand.
suddenly, a tired voice echoed: "time's run out, jack."
in shock, jack dropped the bottle to the ground, and bella jumped to his arm for comfort.
jack cautiously led them both forward, and they peered around the dimly lit corner.
"bootstrap? bill turner?" jack whispered to a barley recognizable face, covered in barnacles, ocean waste, and sea creatures.
"you look good, jack," the man said, turning to face them.
jack looked completely baffled, and bella looked confused. he tilted his head.
"is this a dream?" he asked.
"no," replied the man.
"i thought not," jack sighed. "if it were, there'd be rum." jack set down his lantern on a barrel. bootstrap stuck out his arm, holding a bottle.
jack took it. "you got the pearl back, i see. and a pretty lady along with it."
"we had some help retrieving the pearl, by the way," jack answered. bella looked at him. "your son."
"william?" bootstrap looked shocked. "he ended up a pirate after all."
"and to what do we owe the pleasure of your carbuncle?" bella asked, still very much confused.
bootstrap glanced at her, then back to jack. "he sent me," bootstrap said. "davy jones."
jack looked anxious. "oh," he began. he sat down on a barrell, and bella sat next to him, her hand in his. "so it's you, then. he shanghaied you into service, eh?"
"i chose it," bootstrap corrected him. jack looked perplexed. "i'm sorry for the part i played in the mutiny against you, jack. i stood up for you. everything went wrong after that. they strapped me to a cannon. i ended up on the bottom of the ocean, the weight of the water crushing down on me. unable to move. unable to die, jack," jack looked up at bootstrap somewhat sympathetically. "and i thought that even the tiniest hole of escaping this fate, i would take it. i would trade anything for it."
jack handed the rum bottle back to bootstrap, then casually stood up. bella let go of his hand.
"it's funny what a man will do to forestall his final judgement," said jack.
"you made a deal with him too, jack," bootstrap cut him off. "he raised the pearl from the depths for you. thirteen years, you've been her captain."
bella's jaw dropped in shock. she had been with him for a year and he hadn't told her?!?! the pearl had been raised from the depths thirteen years ago... thirteen years ago, the wicked wench had been destroyed... it couldn't just be coincidence, could it?
"technically, i——"
"jack. you won't be able to talk your way out of this. the terms what applied to me apply to you as well. one soul, bound to crew 100 years upon his ship."
bella was listening carefully. so all the legends and stories of davy jones were true? davy jones's locker? what about the kraken? there was no way jack had to leave her for the dutchman, right?
"yes, but the flying dutchman already has a captain, so there's really no—" jack began.
"then it's the locker for you!"
yep, guess the locker's real.
"jones's terrible leviathan will find you, and drag the pearl back to the depths and you along with it."
yep, the kraken's real too.
"any idea when jones might release said terrible beastie?" jack raised his eyebrows frightenedly.
"i already told you, jack. your time is up," bootstrap picked up jack's hand. "it comes now, drawn with ravenous hunger to the man what bears the black spot."
jack raised his hand up, and bella rushed beside him to look at it as well. jack quickly closed his hand when she tried to look, but she had already seen it. the sight gave her a shiver.
jack turned to look at her, and she looked back up at him in fear, shock, and understanding. then, hurriedly, they booked it up the stairs and jack started yelling.
"on deck, all hands! make fast the bunt gasket! on deck! scurry! scurry! i want movement! movement! i want movement! lift the skin up! keep your loof! haul those sheets! run them! run! keep running! run as if the devil himself and itself are upon us!"
bella reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of fabric. she quickly handed it to jack, who began wrapping it around his hand.
"do we have a heading?" gibbs asked.
"argh!" jack jumped. "run! land."
"which port?"
"didn't say port! i said land, any land!"
jack the monkey suddenly swooped in and grabbed jack's hat, then threw it into the water.
"jack's hat! bring her about!" gibbs called.
"no, no! leave it!" said jack. "run."
"back to your stations, the lot of you!" bella shouted.
she turned around, but jack wasn't there. she saw him hiding under the stairs. gibbs walked up behind her.
"jack?" bella asked.
"shh!"
"for the love of mother and child, jack, what's coming after us?" gibbs asked, baffled.
"nothing."
gibbs sighed and walked away. bella stared at jack somewhat angrily.
"the black pearl was the wicked wench, wasn't she?" she said, not trying to hide her disdain towards him never telling her.
jack looked at her worriedly, which answered the question.
"you've doomed us all!" bella said exasperatedly.
he didn't answer. he just kept standing under the stairs, unmoving.
bella sighed and rolled her eyes, then ran up to find gibbs and get to land.