Part 4: Priceless Daggers

Act 1: That Goddess's Visit

Not much was able to be salvaged from the wreck of the Mystical Raider. Hell, it was a miracle that it was still afloat! Just barely, granted, but afloat. A few barrels, some money, Beckett's drenched journal, and their belongings on their backs were about half of it. James held the other half, which consisted of Elizabeth, food crates, and the wheel Angel stubbornly refused to leave behind. It was bad enough he had to carry his little sister and five crates of fruit, but a ship's wheel?

Beckett sat on a barrel, strapped down by several belts that were attached to the crates once upon a time. She shook the journal and let out whining noises every time she saw the smeared ink and soggy parchment. Wherever they ended up drifting to, she would most certainly make it a priority to buy a new one. A cawing of a seagull was heard and something unpleasant landed on her shoulder. William rolled off his barrel hearing a gunshot and the squawking of a bird. "Damn pests!" Beckett spat at the sky.

Angel laughed. She truly did enjoy revenge, for it was a just thing in her views. If one punches another, they will surely punch back. That is revenge, 'tis it not? Yet again, the quirk with revenge is that sometimes it would never stop. The one would punch the other once more, the other the one, and so on until one was punched to death! Well, in the worst case scenario. As if it could read her thoughts of revenge, the Kraken rammed the top of its head into the bottom of her barrel, making her fly up and crash into the water. Angel sputtered once she surfaced again, glaring at William as he laughed.

Elizabeth stared at the underwater creature. His tentacles were bleeding and scarred. She immediately felt guilty for causing the cephalopod such pain, but knew it was out of fear and self-protection. The idea of relocating herself came to mind, so she scrambled off the barrel (uneventfully tipping James and the crates with it-plus the wheel-). Elizabeth swam above the Kraken's figure and relaxed when he surfaced a little as to give her a place to sit. It was slimy, yes, but she could still sit and relax.

"Oi, Mist 'a Kraken?" Elizabeth piped up.

Hmm? Kraken slowed as he made a low rumbling sound with it.

The lass's feet were swinging as she stared up at the fluffy clouds starting to gather. "Why's it that we's can understand ye'?" she asked, mumbling more like it.

It is part of your abilities, to m' understandin', Kraken said. Never really got many a-story of it. Elizabeth could see that, due to the fact that he was a sea-monster above all things. In all honesty, she thought only slimy gits could talk to the sea creatures they claimed to be a part of.

Captain Jack drummed his fingers on the surface of his barrel, Mr. Gibbs floating next to him. Both pirates felt a tad uneasy with the tentacles pushing all the barrels forward, but they managed none of the less. It was a Hell of a lot better than just floating there, waiting for sharks n' mermaids to attack. Seeing the littlest Turner talking to the Kraken did not really help at all in their opinions. To relieve his stress, Jack grabbed a bottle of rum from his belt. Jack spit the cork out of his mouth after giving it a yank with his teeth, hitting William to make him fall off the barrel again. All the scolding from the Dutchman was ignored as the warm trickle of alcohol burned Jack's throat.

James gave a hefty sigh after gathering all the fallen things, a tentacle helping him back onto the barrel. "Okay, while we're rotting here," he grumbled, "why don't we gets something straight?"

The adults faced him. His sisters paid no attention. "I'm listenin'," Angel informed.

Arms crossed, James opened his mouth to speak. "First of all, Eliza's got magic trinkets that burn and whatnot. Care to explain that?"

Gibbs snorted and pointed to the sky, leaning in James's direction. "It's her curse, lad," he said. By his choice of tone, Gibbs wanted to keep mum. "I's heard that Elizabeth sold you's to Calypso."

"Poppy cock," Will rolled his eyes. He turned to James with a smile. "Your mother was probably trying to help Calypso."

"Indeed." Elizabeth's screams rang as a tall woman appeared before her. The coffee skin was clad in various-colored cloths and the occasional string and bead. Long braids of brown hair curtained the face painted in several places as if to mark her tribe. Her eyes were brown, a common color of iris in the world then. "Hush girl! I might be a goddess, but I still have frail ears!"

Elizabeth gave the goddess a blink or two before a curt nod. Her head leaned forward and she whispered, "Sorry miss."

Captain Jack smiled brilliantly and waved to Calypso once. "Ah, Tia Dalma," he greeted rather informally. "I suppose you've been coping well?"

This woman, 'Tia Dalma' otherwise known as Calypso, raised a brow in disbelief, one hand gripping her hip. "If you consider being a goddess for who knows 'ow long a well-cope, then yes, peachy."

"As a matter of fact, I would," Jack answered smartly. He got a kick from a wave for that retort.

William chuckled at this. Angel and Gibbs were honestly too awestruck with the sudden appearance of the goddess to utter a word. Beckett stood and bowed, making an arse of herself by falling into the water. Tia Dalma chuckled and glanced down at the youth of the children. "You wished to know why you understand the Kraken, correct?" Elizabeth nodded whilst James managed to heave-ho himself onto the Kraken's head as well. "That be part of the powers you gained as an infant, it is," Tia informed. "Ye got several, if I be not mistaken. One would include the trinkets that settle on yer head, missy."

Beckett swam to the head as well, drawing her sword and directing it to the goddess's face. The crowd grew dead silent. "Ye's awfully shady, if ye' ask me," Beckett growled. "How do we's know this is true? Only one s'was there was Mum!" The silence seemed to swallow the world whole as she made this point.

Tia Dalma, however, merely chuckled and kneeled to the water, swirling an area with the tip of her finger. "Let's ask her, shall we?"

It was a surprise to all of them to see the Pirate King appear in the water. Her torso was bleeding and her leg seemed bent, but other than that she was the same Elizabeth Swann! "I see you have come out of the safety of belief, Calypso," Elizabeth chuckled.

Eliza beamed and reached for the water, scrambling the image a bit as she tried to see if her mum was there. "Mummy!" she cheered. "Mummy! Look Becky, it's Mummy!"

"Yeah, Becky," James chuckled. His mouth was filled with the dirt of Beckett's shoe soles at this. "OW!"

"BEHAVE you two!" Elizabeth groaned.

Beckett chuckled mischievously and lifted Eliza up a bit. The poor lass blinked as her elder held her up by the underarms. "Ain't you's forgettin' the last 'un?" Beckett's eyes bashed innocently.

With a sigh, Elizabeth chose to ignore that. "Well, I suppose this is about the rain?" she wondered.

"WHAT RAIN?!" Angel and Jack snapped. They were far too ADHD for their own good, even if the diagnosis was not invented then!

William pushed Jack off to shush him. The barrel of his pistol directed itself to the other captain. Will's face, however, was to his wife. "Elizabeth," he smiled. "See you're…well…"

His wife giggled a little and rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, I look horrid," she huffed. "That's beside the point."

The goddess pointed to Beckett, smiling thoughtfully. "Care to explain the event years ago?" It sounded more like a command than an actual request. In so, Elizabeth Swann explained the rain, the goddess, and the common-sense-factor of not threatening a goddess of water with mere metal whilst on the water itself, or any time for that matter. "And there ye's have it," Tia Dalma grinned. "Now, I did not jus' come for 'dis accusation."

"Shocking," Gibbs muttered a little. Jack yanked him down as to shush him, as Will had done to him. No sooner was Will submerged in a similar manner.

For they weighed more than water, the ripples spread through the surface. This time these ripples made the vision of Elizabeth Swann dissipate. Checking to make sure the vision was truly gone, James faced Tia Dalma sternly. "Okay, what else would you like to say?" he snapped rather unpleasantly.

She chuckled twice before crossing her arms over her chest, tapping one finger on an elbow crook. "You three are special, yet not everyone thinks of you as that. Some a nuisance. Some a golden opportunity for shillin's. D'at statement there should give you some warnings on what is to come! Beware, Turners! For Davy Jones is alive and lookin' to spill yer blood, he is!"

"Got that message," Beckett snorted. "Anythin' new you'd like to share?"

Angel chucked the floating wheel at her head. "Hush lass! This be a goddess you's addressin'!" she hissed. Even with the harsh tone, the hint of amusement failed to hide itself.

Tia Dalma's grin widened further and her fingertips patted the brown-head of the youth. "New, you say?" Tia Dalma mused. "Well, I would say that a few sharks do not find your company worth-while." With that, she vanished into a large wave that soaked all passengers on the U.S.S Kraken.

"What's she mean by that?" Jack demanded. Will tapped his shoulder rapidly. "Oh wha-"-Jack cut himself off with a scream of horror as dorsal fins were spotted on the horizon. He swam to the Kraken, as did the rest. "Oi, this has been a long 'nough day, don't need to be any longer!"