Hearts Across the Sea ch9

[spacebabie]

Disclaimer: Pirates of the Caribbean and all related characters belong to Walt Disney, Gore, Jerry, Ted and Terry.

Original Characters such as Julia Carlisle and Abigail Peterson are my own creation.

Characters: James Norrington, Theodore Groves, Murtogg, Mullroy, William Turner, Elizabeth Turner, Julia Carlisle, Abigail Peterson.

Setting: A few months after The Chosen.

 

Hearts Across the Sea

 

Chapter 9: Discovery

-

James did not have any trouble wandering around the cavernous home of Lorel and her people. While she did not return his shoes to him or give him any other form of footwear to use in the meantime, he did not feel any discomfort to his feet. The floors of the cavern hallways were covered with moss that was soft as goose down and the few places that were not covered in moss had a rug strewn across. James brushed a toe against edge of the floor, one of the few places where the floor wasn’t covered with anything and he discovered it was smooth to the touch.

He didn’t need to carry a lantern around either. Everywhere he went the walls were covered with the bioluminescent growths that glowed bright enough for him to see more of the artwork. Not only was he able to tell the difference between the colors but also the shade and tint. He had no trouble finding the drape covered openings that had the edges covered in a red paint.

As he made his way back to the bedroom Lorel had set up for him he thought about his current situation. How did he end up in such a place? He remembered holding onto a section of the Naiad’s mast and watched as his ship sank and his crew being pulled under at what had appeared to have been merfolk. He was impressed that Lorel and her people were able to overpower the beings and rescue James and his crew. He also thought about how they were able to live in the caves. They have certainly adapted, cultivating such growths to illuminate the rooms. Other important questions that came to his mind was why they lived underground and why have they not tried to make contact with the outside world, unless this was another story that had come true.

“Are you going to where your entire uniform?” Lorel stood outside his room. Her long fingers were adjusting one of her braids of fire gold.

“Not entirely,” James did not feel a need to wear his coat, or even his waist coat. “I will wear my shirt, breeches, socks and shoes.”

“You are not going to wear anything with flair?” Lorel sounded disappointed.

“I may wear my waist coat,” he parted the drape and stepped inside his room. “I may need a place for my coat.”

“I will be standing just outside,” Lorel told him. “Would you like to wear your shoes?”

“I should be wearing them.”

“I see,” she pressed her finger underneath her mouth. “I will bring you your shoes, are you certain you want them?”

“I would very much like to have them,” James stared at the end of his bed where his uniform was spread out. ‘Why haven’t you brought them?”

“No one wears shoes down here,” she pointed at her own bare feet. “We keep the ground clean and it is very soft.”

“I have noticed, but I need to wear mine.”

“If you feel the need,” She nodded. “I will bring them to you.”

“And then I would like to see my men,” James added.

Lorel paused. “I haven’t asked if they were ready to see you, but I will. I can see how much you want to know. You must care greatly for them.”

“I have great respect for my crew.”

“I almost envy them. They have someone like you to care and lead them, almost as much as I envy your someone.”  She pointed at the ring hanging from his necklace. “What is her name?”

“Her name is Julia Carlisle.”

“What a fine name.”

“It is,” he smiled, again picturing the evening of the governor’s ball when they had last danced.

“I will bring you your shoes now,” she smiled at him before she continued her way down the hall.

“Miss Lorel, I know this is a foolish question, but could this be Atlantis?”

She paused once more. “It is not a foolish question, but this is not Atlantis.”

Well so much for that theory. “Thank you again,” James stepped inside his room. He would try to learn a little more about this place after he had finished dressing.

-

Julia Carlisle stared at her hands as she continued to wash off the charcoal. She had completed another drawing. This time she had chosen to draw Mr. Gull. She had drawn several Navy men working together and drawn William Turner dueling with Captain Groves, this time she had decided to draw Abigail’s bird.

“He wants to leave,” Abigail tossed another fish towards Mr. Gull. “His wing is healed and he is ready to fly.”

“When will you release him?” Julia stared at the picture. Mr. Gull had his wings stretched to their full spread.

“When land has been sighted,” Abigail tossed one more fish towards her temporary pet and stood up. “Theodore told me seagulls only fly out to open sea to die. I can’t leave him out in the middle of the Atlantic, now can I?”

“No you can’t,” Julia stepped aside to allow her friend access to the basin. “You called him by his first name.”

“What?” Abigail dipped her hands into the water.

“You just referred to Captain Groves by his first name.”

“We both call Mr. Turner by William, now don’t we?” Abigail washed her hands as fast as she could and grabbed a cloth to dry them.

“That is because he is a friend of ours.”

“I guess Captain Groves is becoming a friend. He did help me with my trunk.”

“I still can’t believe you actually went through with it,” Julia shook her head. An hour after breakfast and their meeting with Whitecap, Abigail had decided to throw the trunk over the side of the ship. She along with Captain Groves and Murtogg and Mullroy had lifted it up and pushed it over with no regrets.

“I had to carry through with my plans,” Abigail sat on the edge of her bed. “I wish I had also brought my flute.”

“You are simply awful.”

“I need to think of something to tell my mother. I think a storm would be plausible, something that would cause the ship to shake, or maybe I can blame it on pirates.”

“Don’t ask me to be involved in this.”

“You are aware of my crime,” Abigail wagged her finger.

“Then you should be discussing the idea of a cover story with your partners.”

“I doubt Mr. Murtogg or Mr. Mullroy would be able to come up with such a lie.”

“I wasn’t talking about them,” Julia knew her friend was denying the fact that she was becoming close with Captain Groves.

“But Captain Groves is busy.”

“I thought you called him Theodore?” Julia tried to raise her eyebrows repeatedly in the matter she had seen Elizabeth and James had done.

“Not all the time,” Abigail stood up. “You are hinting at something.”

“What could I be hinting at? The fact that you seem to be spending more and more time with Captain Groves.”

“I do not fancy him, if that is what you are implying.”

“I did not say you fancy him, but now I know how you feel.”

“I do not feel anything about him,” she turned to the door at the sound of a knock.

“I haven’t said anything,” Julia approached the door.

“Stop it.”

“I am not doing anything,” Julia kept her eyes on Mr. Gull. The bird stared at her blinked once and then walked back to Abigail. “May I ask who it is?”

“It is me,” William said on the other side.

“Hello,” Julia opened the door. “Do you wish to come inside?”

“I came to ask if you are ready for another lesson,” Will smiled. “You haven’t trained in a few days.”

“I would like to have another lesson,” they used blunt and dull edge swords. “Abigail, would you like to come with us?”

“No,” Abigail shook her head.

“Are you certain?” Will asked. “Elizabeth and I could teach you as well.”

“I am content with my hammers,” Abigail set down on the edge of her bed again. “I am also waiting for land to be sighted.”

“We won’t be long,” Julia said and tried to keep from smiling. Abigail may keep on denying the fact, but she can see there was something developing between her and Captain Groves.

-

Theodore Groves stared at the map spread out across his desk. They would soon be reaching the opening maw of the Mediterranean, and after that it will only be a couple of more days before they reached the shores of Tripoli. He prayed that they will not be too late.

“You look worried,” Whitecap was perched at the edge of the map, on her hands and knees. “You are thinking about Admiral Norrington.”

“Yes I am,” Theodore made a mark on the sea between Gibraltar and Tripoli.

“I have heard rumors,” Whitecap sat back. “From the manatees and the mantas and several dolphins, from what they have said the spell hadn’t begun yet.”

“What spell,” Theodore asked. “Is this a spell used to torture Admiral Norrington?”

“I haven’t heard enough yet, but when I do I will inform you first.”

“Thank you,” Theodore set down his quill. “Whitecap, if you can perform some spells can you make the ship go even faster?”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “That may rouse too much attention. I am not even supposed to reveal to you my true form, much less assist you.”

“By who?”

“It is an unwritten code, rules passed down through the generations of faeries. Humans cannot see us, we are not allowed to mettle in human affairs unless affirmed by a leader or an elder.”

“Then why are you helping us?”

“The Siren queen has several members of my clan as her prisoner, used as slaves. We share a common enemy. There is another reason. Each clan of a sea Nixie bonds with an animal. My clan has bonded with the manta rays. Five years ago I was swimming with a manta ray when he was caught in a net.”

“A net of a navy ship,” the event replayed in Theodore’s mind. “I was there. Some of the crew had caught a ray and they were arguing about what to do with it. I told Admiral Norrington, he was Captain Norrington at the time, about it.”

“I couldn’t interfere, but I listened. He freed my friend and I promised I would help him in some way.”

“Thank you,” Theodore knew he should say more. “I know you are breaking the code by helping us.”

“I have been granted permission from one of the clan elders, but even if I hadn’t I would still help you.”

“But with permission you still cannot perform the spell that I had asked for.”

“I could risk suspicion from the other clans. The best I can do is strengthen the wind, which I already have done.”

“Thank you again,” Theodore stood back. “Do you know how to fight against such creatures?”

“They are mortals. They can be killed by anything.”

“If the legends are true than their voices can lure me or the rest of those on this ship to drown themselves.”

“I will protect you from their songs. The one we should be worried about is the queen; she is the one who is immortal. The only way she can die is by her own hand.”

“Wonderful,” Theodore hissed through his teeth.

“Something is happening outside,” Whitecap stood up. “I can hear them shouting and they sound pleased.”

“I will see what has caused such a commotion,” He stepped outside and nearly collided with Lieutenant Donnelly. “Lieutenant, May I inquire what is the source of this excitement?”

“I came down here to inform you, sir,” Donnelly smiled. He had allowed his accent to slip out. “We have seen land.”

“Excellent,” Theodore smiled. “We need to inform our guests as well. He will tell Abigail she can release Mr. Gull.

-

James set down the bowl onto the table. He had finished cleaning out its contents and once again the soup had been delicious. It was all he wanted, soup and bread with some fruit on the side. Lorel had offered to cook him something more, something she had said that would be fitting of an admiral, but he declined. What he wanted was to speak with his men, and every time he asked she told him they were not ready, or they did not wish to speak with him. James knew she was lying, yet he did not call her on it. He did not want to rouse any anger or suspicion from her. He would find out the whereabouts of his men on his own.

“Careful James,” he had cautioned himself. He had known where he would look, beyond the red stones, and he would have to be quick and as quiet about it as possible.

When he came to the nearest entrance marked by the red stones he stood as still as a statue and waited. When he could not hear a single sound he parted the curtain and stuck his head inside.

It was a kitchen. There were large pots hanging over small spaces filled with stones and ashes and kindling. The tables were covered with baskets and bowls of dead fish and fruits and vegetables. One small table even had a few decapitated chickens.  James inched closer to one of the pots and stared inside. It was empty, clean and empty. Well he just finished his lunch.

“Why would she not want me to be in a kitchen?” He decided to continue his search and see what was beyond the kitchen doorway. The drape that hung under the arch was torn half way. James stared inside to a room that was not as well lit as the others and the floor had several dark round circles, large pits.

James approached the nearest pit and stared down, he could make out what appeared to have been rocks, although some of the rocks were smaller than the others. He grabbed one of the rocks and pulled it out.

It was a human skull.

“Dear God,” James dropped it and stumbled back. After recovering from his shock he pulled out a bone, what may have been a leg bone from another human? He fought back the urge to vomit as he tried to make sense. Did they murder all these people, is that what had happened or was going to happen to his men and possibly himself? Was this just the place where they buried their own, and if so, then why next to a kitchen?

“Too clean,” James ran his thumb against the bone. There was no rotting remains sticking to it, and as he examined the other bones he found out there were not remains to any of the others. He ran his fingers against the edge of another bone. It was too smooth and rounded, like the bones of chicken after his maid and housekeeper had boiled the remains of a chicken.

“No,” the realization hit him hard. The people had been murdered and Lorel and her people have consumed their flesh. He felt himself shaking at the thought of his crew, has it happened already, was he next. Then a worse and far more horrid thought entered his mind. Was that the meat in his soup?

The bone slipped out of his hands and hit the pit before James’s vomit had. He continued to heave until all he was able to produce was pure bile. He was still trying to shake out the revulsion when he heard singing. His eyes widened when he recognized the singing as the same when The Naiad went down. He wanted to know who was singing and opened his mouth to ask, but before he could get the words out, darkness filled his mind.