PLEASE READ BEFORE PROCEEDING: The following work is not a direct sequel to the film Dead Men Tell No Tales. It is, in fact, a sequel based on my rewrite of the fifth movie, and so the plot is vastly effected by what happens in that story. You may read this story as you wish, but I warn you of spoilers for the previous story.

Without further ado, here is the next chapter in the Pirates of the Caribbean saga.

Ionian Sea, 1189

It was well past dark, and hardly anything could be seen in this part of the Mediterranean. In the vast, open waters, the only thing that could be seen were the reflection of the stars in the sky, shining brilliantly on the surface. It was a beautiful image, wonderous to behold for anyone who could see it.

But of course, there was hardly anyone in this area at this time, save for one lone ship gliding in an eastern course.

The ship itself was large and sturdy, made from the finest wood in the Ardennes Forest in the Kingdom of France. It was an imposing design invoking strength in anyone who laid eyes upon it, and had dozens of oars on the upper and lower decks. It had tremendous white sails in place above, and each of the three sections of sails were adorned with a bright, red cross to represent their faith to all.

The men aboard the vessel included over a hundred men, who were garbed with white cloth lain over shiny, metal armor. On the front of their tunics they too bore the same red cross that adorned their sails.

These men were members of a Catholic military order known as the Knights Templar.

It was a troop transport ship inbound from France to the Holy Land, where it would join up with their other fellow Christian soldiers in reclaiming Jerusalem from the Saracens who occupied it. But before they could join their English, French, and German brothers, they had received a special assignment from the Grand Master himself and were now en route to recover something of vital importance.

A young Templar novice by the name of Evrard was on the top deck, wanting to get some fresh air after spending an extended period below decks. He took a look at the moon up above them, and noticed that it was unusually close. Evrard thought it to be strange; he had never seen the moon that big before.

But Evrard shook his head, figuring he was superstitious on the matter. He thought maybe he should speak to the Commander and see how much longer it would be before they would reach their destination.

Heading over to where the Commander was, he saw him hunched and looking down at a map with the navigator of the ship.

"... and I believe if we keep heading northeast here," the navigator pointed down at the map, "we'll find the island in no time."

"No, no," the Commander said, "If we went northeast at that point we'd well overshoot our destination and be too far north. We need to be closer to Athens."

The Commander, Sir Robert de Montreal, was an experienced soldier and devout Catholic. He carried with him an old claymore sword bearing the mark of the order, and wore a blood-red cape over his armor with a white cross against it. Though his age was beginning to show, that did not at all hinder his ability to command and to fight. For this, he was granted this mission by the Grand Master with the blessing of the Pope in order to bring about victory for their religion.

"Commander," Evrard addressed his superior, to which Robert looked up at the young knight and said, "Ah, Evrard. What can I help you with?"

"Nothing sir," Evrard told him, "Just nerves, is all."

"Nerves?" Robert asked of his man, leaning up from the table, "Regarding what?"

"Well..." Evrard swallowed, and he allowed himself a moment to try to figure out what was best to say, "Part of me feels that this is a bit blasphemous, that we're dishonoring God by doing this."

"Not at all, my good man," Robert came forward, patting Evrard's shoulder with his gloved hand, "We're doing this in God's name."

Robert led Evrard to the starboard rail of the ship, and asked of him, "Tell me... what do you know of the Spear of Destiny?"

"The Holy Lance," Evrard answered, "It was used by the Roman Longinus to pierce Christ during the Crucifixion."

"You have it exactly, dear Evrard," Robert smiled at his answer, "it is indeed the one the pagans used to ensure that our Savior was dead."

"But why are we searching for it?" Evrard inquired, "If Christ was wounded by it-"

"- then imagine what it could do to mortal men," Robert said with grin.

Evrard looked at him confused, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"The Master has done considerable research on the history of this region for some time," Robert began, "He believes that the Spear was the Sarissa used by Alexander the Great, and he used it to conquer the many lands that made up his empire."

Evrard blinked, confused at this knowledge.

"According to legend, the Spear was built by the god of war Ares to kill other gods," Robert continued, "Alexander discovered it while in Greece, and used it in his many conquests. But the power of the Spear began to scare him, and so he hid it away before it was rediscovered by the Roman Empire. It is not mentioned in the Bible, but Christ was still alive when the Romans crucified him. The Spear was then used to end what was left of his mortal life."

Evrard stood with his mouth open, not believing what he was being told. This went against everything he was brought up to believe. Christ did die on the cross before ascending into Heaven, not being murdered by the weapon of a heathen god.

"How can you say such a thing!?" Evrard demanded, and Robert sighed, seeing how negatively he reacted to it.

"Christ's death was prophesized; it was going to happen anyway," Robert told him, "That's why when we find it, it will vindicate us."

Evrard still wasn't convinced, and so Robert said, "It proves that he is the Savior. Nevermind the legend behind it, this proves he was no mere mortal, and that it was a tool left by the Almighty to bring about our salvation. With it, we will crush the faith of the Saracens, and those who resist will be wiped out by its righteous power."

Evrard did not know what to say. He was still skeptical as to believing this to be true; it went against the teachings of the Church. As for him, he never felt that his faith needed to be vindicated. He disagreed with the Muslims on all matters spiritually, but nevertheless respected their right to practice their own faith. He only joined up with the Templars to protect his fellow Christians, not to destroy Islam in its entirety with the alleged wrath brought about by an ancient artifact.

"Land!" the navigator pointed, and all hands on the deck looked ahead of them to see a small rocky formation ahead. Robert smiled, knowing that if the calculations and the maps were correct, they had found the island where the Spear was hidden.

They docked themselves along the beach, and Robert took a small party of men, including Evrard, inland. They spent a considerable amount of time clambering over the rocky landscape, which was difficult to do while they held torches in their hands. Eventually, they were greeted by the sight of the mouth of a cave, which looked tall and wide enough for a grown man to step through.

"Shall we, gentlemen?" one of the knights said, stepping forward. But before he could enter the cave, Robert put his arm out in front of him to prevent him from going in.

"Hold just a moment," Robert spoke to the men in a serious tone. He raised the torch that was in his other hand, and he saw that there was a carving above the entrance to the cave. Observing it for a moment, Robert realized that it was written in Latin.

"Beware, you who should enter. Herein lies the killer of gods. But be wary, for to take the power to kill a god is to challenge them," Robert read the text above the entry, and all the men present had nervous expressions looking upon what they read.

"That cannot be good at all," Evrard commented, "I have a bad feeling about this."

"As do I," Robert said, rereading the warning, "But we still have our duty to do."

Swallowing, Robert stepped forward, and his men reluctantly did the same. They had no idea what was coming their way.

Stepping inside the cave, Robert led them down a long, narrow stone corridor, before they entered what looked like a shrine. There was a ginormous stone coffin resting at the rear of the room, much larger than a human being, covered in Ancient Greek lettering. All around them, the men held their torches up to see an assortment of gold, pottery, and other artifacts surrounding the room.

"Incredible," one of the knights said.

"Look at all this gold," another commented, observing the riches inside, "This must be worth a fortune."

"We're here for the Spear, nothing more," Robert told his men, staring intently at the coffin. His Greek wasn't the strongest, but if he was reading it right, then the large coffin said...

"Ares," Robert uttered aloud, realizing what this place was. This was the shrine to the god of war, Ares. And this coffin right here was where he was supposedly buried.

"This is impossible," Robert said, walking forward to the coffin. There was no way that there was an actual god buried here. Surely It was just symbolic.

Robert rested his hand atop of the stone coffin, brushing off some of the dust resting atop of it. There was no trace of the Spear anywhere in the room, so he figured it had to be inside.

Before he ordered his men to help him lift the lid, Robert looked ahead and saw drawings on the wall, which looked like a number of different weapons, each with Greek lettering describing each one.

The Spear of Ares.

The Shield of Athena.

The Trident of Poseidon.

The Sword of Triton.

Of all the images present, the Sword of Triton was the largest and located in the center of the wall. It appeared to be a large broadsword with a jewel-encrusted hilt. The Spear, the Trident, and the Shield were smaller and surrounded the Sword. The three weapons looked like they had large jewels embedded at their center.

"What is this?" Robert asked himself. He had never seen anything like this in all his life. What did it all mean?

There was nothing on the wall to further describe what these things were or what they meant. Robert figured that the only way to understand anything further would be to open the coffin to see if the Spear lay inside.

"Help me move this thing," he called to his men, and the knights came over to the Commander's side and started to push back the heavy stone. Eventually they forced it off, and gazed in awe at what they saw.

There was a ginormous skeleton lying in the coffin, far bigger than that of an ordinary human. The Templars figured that this must be Ares, the god of war himself.

But more than that, they saw that he was grasping onto.

The Spear of Destiny.

The tip of the Spear was of an intricate design, being of a design of which none of the men had ever seen. It had a pattern of gold in the center, wrapped around the blackened metal. The wooden handle of the weapon was a charred black color like it had been burned. But strangest of all was the point that the wooden handle and the metal tip met, and they saw a green crystal embedded in the center glowing brightly.

Robert's mouth dropped, never having seen something as extraordinary in his life. Quickly, he had to take a step back and drew his sword. He kneeled down and placed the blade into the ground, and closed his eyes.

The rest of the knights followed suit and kneeled next to him, and soon enough they all started to chant, "Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam."

The Templars stood up, and Robert walked over to the coffin and looked on in awe at the weapon. Slowly, he reached a hand forward to grab it, but before he did Evrard grabbed his hand.

"I beseech you, sir," Evrard began, "Don't."

"There is nothing to fear, Evrard," Robert said, "This is a holy weapon."

"But remember the warning outside," Evrard cautioned him, "Those that remove the Spear will be challenged by the gods."

"But we have no need to fear them," Robert told him, "As you can see, the god Ares is clearly dead."

"Sir, I believe this to be a bad idea," Evrard told him.

"Your concern is reasonable, dear Evrard," Robert said, "But we have a task to complete."

With that, Robert reached into the coffin and grabbed the Spear by the handle. Pulling it out, he held it in his hands, gazing at the glowing jewel in the center.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Robert said, and then looked to his men, who were waiting for something to happen.

Only nothing did.

"What do you suppose it does?" one of the knights asked.

"I do not know entirely," Robert said, "Let us take it back to the ship for research."

Robert exited the cave, followed closely by his men. They soon arrived back at the ship, and the entire crew looked at what they had discovered.

"Let us make way for the Holy Land, gentlemen," Robert said, "We have what we came for."

The sails were hoisted and the men below started to row, while Robert sat down in his chair on the upper deck and continued studying the Spear.

"So, this is the weapon Longinus used to kill Christ," Robert said to Evrard, "Imagine the power this thing could hold."

"I hope you know what you are doing, sir," Evrard told him, "We've tampered with forces I do not believe were ever meant to be tampered with.

"It is no worry, my good man," Robert reassured him, "Everything will be al-"

Before he could finish, the jewel at the center started to glow a bright green, and the humming from it increased in intensity. Standing up, Robert's breath picked up as he watched this sudden change, and Evrard took a few steps back.

"What's happening?" Evrard asked, and before Robert could provide him with a response, one of the men on the deck said, "Hold on, where did that mist come from?"

Robert and Evrard looked ahead of them to see a cloud of mist ahead of them on the sea. Mist was not uncommon but it suddenly appeared in front of them. It soon began to spread both left and right in an almost unnatural fashion, blocking the way forward to them.

Robert and Evrard looked towards the Spear, which continued to glow intensely. They looked at each other, and Evrard shouted, "You fool! We were warned!"

In a state of panic, Robert did not answer him, but instead hastily shouted, "Turn the ship around! Now!"

There was more panic along the deck as the crewmen were working as fast as possible to stay away from the mist. But soon the mist encircled them, and there was no way they could go but through.

Robert's mouth hung open in horror, not knowing what awaited them beyond the mist as they drifted closer to it.

"You've damned us all!" Evrard shouted, and Robert did not argue with him. Instead he closed his eyes and prepared for what was to come.

There were panicked cries all along the ship, and the ship then entered the mist.

Soon the panicked cries died down. After that the mist dissipated.

The ship had disappeared. The Templars were gone.

Forgotten in time.

Walt Disney Pictures Presents

In Association with Jerry Bruckheimer Films

A Gore Verbinski film

Starring Orlando Bloom

Kaya Scodelario

Brenton Thwaites

Jack Davenport

Penelope Cruz

Kevin R. McNally

Bill Nighy

Stephen Dillane

David Wenham

with Keira Knightley

Stellan Skarsgard

and Geoffrey Rush

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE MISTS OF TIME

A/N: Well, it's sequel-time already! I hope you all enjoyed my first chapter as a continuation of my rewrite of Dead Men Tell No Tales. If you haven't already, I strongly advise you to do so otherwise the story I am about to tell won't make sense.

So yeah, I decided to incorporate several aspects of history, mythology, and religion into one big narrative. I made a lot of details up about Alexander the Great and other subjects, but understand this is a work of fiction and not meant to circumvent reality nor offend any beliefs.

Now that the prologue is out of the way, we can dive back in with our old friends in the Caribbean Sea, circa 1750s. A lot has happened since the last story, so there's a lot of surprises in store for you.

I hope you all enjoyed. Please be sure to review or PM me if you have any comments, questions, etc., and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Stay classy!

-Spent