The next morning Percy noticed that Will Turner wasn't around anymore. Captain Jack Sparrow wasn't concerned. Percy asked if he knew where he had gone.
"Jumped off last night," Jack said quietly, "Presumably he'll end up with Endeavour or Dutchman soon enough."
Percy nodded. He watched as their ship approached what appeared to be solid rock wall from a distance, but upon closer look, there was a narrow passage. Mr. Gibbs told the crew to be careful. "Not for naught is it called Shipwreck Island where lies the Shipwreck Cove in the Town of Shipwreck."
"That's a lot of shipwreck," Percy commented.
"You know, for all that pirates are clever clogs, we are an unimaginative lot when it comes to naming things," Captain Jack Sparrow said.
"Aye," Mr. Gibbs nodded.
"I once sailed with a geezer lost both his arms and a part of his eye," Jack told them.
"What did you call him?" Percy asked curiously.
"Larry," Jack replied curtly.
Percy chuckled." Larry" sure proved Jack's point.
Barbossa has argument with Tia Alma and has her placed in the brig.
They went through a small tunnel to what looked like an old crater around a pool of water. The town of Shipwreck was on sight and it was obviously built of shipwrecks. It was a beautiful fortress to be sure, but Percy was certain there was no architect that designed it. And yet, only his father's underwater palace was a better one than this. Or at least it had been, before Oceanus destroyed the palace. Better not let Annabeth see this, Percy thought.
"There has not been a gathering like this in our lifetime," Barbossa said, coming over.
"And I owe all of them money," Jack commented.
"Maybe you should start paying them back," Percy suggested with a grin.
Jack looked at him weirdly but didn't comment.
Once they all got in, Barbossa began called their meeting started and asked them to present their pieces of eight. They gave up various items of random junk – a claw, a playing card…
"Those aren't pieces of eight," Pintel complained to Gibbs. "They're just pieces of junk!"
"Aye, the original plan was to use nine pieces of eight to bind Calypso," Mr. Gibbs informed him, "but when the first Court met the Brethren were, to one, skint broke."
"So change the name!" Pintel insisted.
"To what?" Mr. Gibbs countered. "Nine pieces of whatever we happened to have in our pockets at the time? Oh yes, that's very piratey!"
Percy chuckled at the unused hyphenated name and watched as Barbossa's piece of "eight" was the wooden eye Ragetti used to have. Before giving his own piece of eight, an actual little strain of beads, Jack mentioned the lack of Sao Feng and asked them to wait. Just then Elizabeth Swann came in, saying that Sao Feng had died, fallen to the Flying Dutchman. She went on to say Samuel Beckett had the heart of Davy Jones and that they had been betrayed. This, of course, caused some ruckus among the pirates.
"Who would have betrayed us?" someone asked.
"Clearly not anyone among us," Barbossa said.
"Where's Will?" Elisabeth asked, having looked around.
"Not among us," Jack told her.
Barbossa turned the question into what they'd do now.
"We fight!" Elizabeth said. The others laughed.
"Shipwreck Cove is a fortress," Mistress Ching said. "A well supplied fortress. There's no need to fight when they can't get to us."
This was met with approval. Then Barbossa made a speech, saying they should free Calypso. This caused the pirates to start fighting each other. Percy shook his head in dismay.
"This is madness," Elizabeth disapproved.
"This is politics," Jack corrected.
"I mean our enemies will soon be here with us," she clarified.
"If they not be here already," Barbossa said grimly.
"Almost like the Greek war god was present if you ask me," Percy said, eyeing the pirates fighting each other. "Maybe he is."
"How so?" Gibbs asked.
"His aura makes people want a fight, never mind how or who against," Percy explained. "He just likes fights."
Barbossa jumped onto the table and fired his pistol into the air. Very briefly he again suggested they free Calypso, but offered up the floor to Jack, telling him to share if he had a better idea.
"Cuttlefish," Jack said. He babbled on about cuttlefish as he went on to stand behind Mistress Ching, saying that they could just stay put, except they'd kill each other and then continued to say that yes, they could free Calypso and pray that she spares them. "I rather doubt it," he added. And then he went on to agree with Captain Swann. After a brief encounter with Barbossa whether or not he ran away from battle… Jack said they should be following the old 'pirate tradition': "We must fight – to run away."
"Aye!" Mr. Gibbs agreed fiercely, with just about everyone in the room agreeing and cheering.
Maybe Ares is content enough to wait for it, Percy thought. At least they weren't about to fight amongst themselves again.
Except then Barbossa brought up the Code. "An act of war – and this be exactly that – can only be called by the Pirate King."
"You made that up," Jack shoot back. But he was hesitant.
"Am I now?" Barbossa said calmly. "I call Captain Teague, Keeper of the Code."
One of Shri Subhajee's crew-members questioned the whole code, only to suddenly drop dead. Captain Teague blew off smoke off his pistol from behind Jack.
"You be on my way, boy" Teague said, and Jack moved out of the way. Percy touched Jack's sleeve.
"Jack, I do NOT want a time-paradox by suddenly becoming king," Percy told him. "That is not what my father wanted."
"Ye'd be voted if they knew of yer father," Jack said quietly as two elder men brought a huge book.
"Not me now," Percy told him. "But ye can be king maker."
Jack nodded. That was his plan B.
Captain Teague whistled and a dog brought him a key, he used to open the book. He studied it for a while and declared Barbossa right. Meanwhile, Jack read it as well and muttered something about the King having the duty to parley.
"There has not been a King since the First Brethren Court, and that's not likely to change!" Captain Chevalie said.
"Not likely," Captain Teague agreed, moving slightly away..
"Why not?" Elizabeth asked.
"Because the Pirate King is elected by a popular vote…" Gibbs began.
"... and each pirate only ever votes for himself." Barbossa finished.
"I call for a vote." Jack said.
Barbossa rolled his eyes and Captain Teague began to play a guitar. Percy moved closer as the Pirate Lords each voted. Eight votes done, Teague stopped playing for. Jack voted for Elizabeth Swann. Teague picked up his playing again.
They all began to question it.
"Am I to understand ye not be following the code then?" Jack asked calmly.
Teague broke a string in his guitar. Everyone sat down quietly. Were they REALLY that afraid of him?
"Fine then," Mistress Ching said. "What say you, Captain Swann, king of the Brethren Court?"
"Prepare every vessel that floats," Elizabeth said. "At dawn, we are at war."
Percy took a short tour around the town of Shipwreck. Even within the Town he still knew exactly where he was – apparently town of Shipwreck was very much part of the sea. Once he was done, he returned to the shipwreck cove to see Jack Sparrow talking with Captain Teague.
"No, Jackie," Teague was saying, "The trick is to live with yourself forever."
"Good point there, Captain Teague," Percy commented. "Living forever is not what it's cracked up to be."
"And ye would know because…"
"Oh, I've had the chance a few times. I turned it down. First… Lotus Hotel – I think they were just Lotus Eaters in the ancient times. One doesn't age, and you have everything – they just give it to you – and everyone around is just as enthralled so no one wants to kill you either… you even get to keep the infinite amount of money they give you if you ever leave – but once you do, you'll find out you were in longer than you thought. Like… my cousins thought they were months but it was actually decades. I was lucky to get out in days – early enough to finish my quest on time."
"Doesn't sound too bad…" Jack mused.
"It's still a trap," Percy said. "The second time… I'd really rather not spend centuries as a guinea-pig on Circe's island like Black-beard. He's from your era, right?"
They nodded. Percy told them how Hermes' vitamins had turned him and everyone else back to human. "I think Black-beard didn't like that at all, the way he and his men took on Circe. Or that we sailed off on Queen Anne's Revenge while they were at it. One of the perks I have being the son of Poseidon ir getting a ship to do what I want," Percy told them. "Too bad my brother sunk it."
"Ye are a true pirate," Jack told him with a grin. "Ye can take yer pick of ships as ye please."