Lost City of Atlantis (POTC 6) + Shorts

Battle with Anne Bonny

September 1720
Eight years before Curse of the Black Pearl

It had been three years since Olivier Levasseur found and saved Annette. He was captaining La Louise through the Caribbean, trying to reach the island of Saints-Marie, just off the coast of Madagascar. It was just a year before he obtained his famous ship, Le Victorieux. He planned to launch his raids from a base with other pirates. They were arrogant to the pirates who ruled this sea. He had not operated in these waters since the war on pirates, and he did not know who was out there.

"Captaine!" Jasper Seagar, a crew member, called out from the deck.

Olivier followed his finger and looked out to the sea, seeing a small yet fast ship approaching them quickly. Olivier assessed the situation, and nearly chuckled at the William. She was a twelve-ton sloop, having only four cannons and he saw just a small crew of fourteen.

"Clear the deck," Olivier shouted to his crew in French, "hoist sails!"

As the crew scampered around the deck to complete his orders. He put one hand on the shoulder of his daughter, Annette, as she looked uninterestedly at the William. She was just ten-years-old, and wore a dark red dress that Olivier had stolen last time they made port. Her long, dark golden hair was combed and pulled back with a black ribbon to stay out of her face. She was barefoot because she was too small for all the sea boots. Her complexion was tan and pink from the never ending sun, but her dancing eyes were lit with excitement.

The angle upon those on the William could not see the impressive La Louise very clearly. They were blissfully unaware of the 22 gun Merchant frigate ship.

The crew on La Louise prepared for battle, as the William sailed quickly to them. The William was captained by Captain John "Calico Jack" Rackham. He called his men to attack, even after knowing that they did not stand much of a chance.

But, the crew fought hard. After a couple hours of fighting, Calico Jack quickly realized that his crew of 14 had no chance against La Louise. He pushed Mary Read and his lover, Anne Bonny, to the front lines.

Mary Read and Anne Bonny were the only two female pirates on his ship. Anne was famous for her red hair, and hot-head temper. In midst the fighting, Anne managed to wrangle little Annette in her arm, pressing her back to her chest and gripped a sword to her throat.

Anne whistled and got Olivier Levasseur's attention. She had inquiries of Olivier and his daughter. She knew that if she used Annette as leverage, she would be able to save herself and her crew from Olivier's vicious ways.

Olivier turned around, and his eyes grew wide at the gesture she was proposing. Annette's little chest was heaving in fear as she stared at her father with a terrified expression on her face. Everyone around them stopped fighting to see what was going to happen next. The William crew knew that Anne was not bluffing, she would slice the neck of a child without a moments notice.

"No, not Annette. Let her go!" He shouted in French and pointed his sword toward Anne.

Anne was unaware of what he was saying, because she did not know French. She stammered and said in English, "do not take one step closer, or I will make her bleed!"

Olivier now was slightly confused, unaware of what she said. He kept the sword pointed at Anne, darting his eyes between her eyes, his daughter, and the sword at her neck.

Annette cleared her throat nervously and said to Olivier in French with a shaky voice, "she said that she will kill me if you get closer to us."

Olivier asked, "you can understand her?"

"Oui, Papa," Annette said, afraid to nod. She had not heard English in a while, and she was so young the last time she properly heard it, and it was before her shipwreck accident. Speaking and translating English was very difficult for young Annette.

Olivier slowly put his sword down, but glared at Anne. Olivier decided to make a deal, "give me my daughter, and we will give you wine from France. We will part ways, and we will not harm you."

Anne kept her eyes on Olivier but nudged Annette to translate, and Annette said in broken English, "Papa... he say you to give me to him... and he give you wine. France wine."

Everyone on the William nodded excitedly in agreement, allowing the exchange. Anne nodded and said to Annette, "aye, give us the wine."

Annette looked at her father, much more relaxed but not feeling completely safe, "they said yes."

Olivier shouted for his crew members to run under the deck and bring up as many bottles of wine as they could for the William.

As soon as the wine bottles were brought up on deck, those from the William were grabbing as many as they could before swinging back to their ship. Anne finally released the sword from Annette's neck, and she was finally able to breathe.

Anne spun Annette around and squatted down to be closer to her eye-line. She could sense the fear in her eyes, and found her uncommon black eye to be very unique and almost eerie. She saw a bit of herself in the little girl, and could see the potential she had for being a great pirate. She smiled softly at her and apologized, "I'm sorry, darling. It's just business."

Annette wasn't quite sure what she meant by that, she so just smiled back nervously and backed up until she was stopped by her father's legs.

Anne stood up straight and said to her, "be confident in yourself, lass. One day, you might be the most fearsome pirate, like your father. Remember me as the lass who saved your life, in case our paths cross again."

Annette nodded to Anne, almost seeing her as a big sister... despite the circumstance. She was rightfully frightened of her, but greatly appreciated her life being spared. She took Anne's advice to heart, and could recall it for years.

Olivier put his hand on Annette's shoulder gently and kept her close as Anne Bonny and the others left La Louise. Annette brought her hand up to her neck after remembering the feeling of the cold blade against her warm skin, and looked down to notice blood smeared on her palm.

Olivier shouted to his men, "weigh anchor! Make sail!" He wanted to get out of those waters as soon as possible. He turned Annette around and asked in French, "are you all right, my love?"

Annette nodded and blinked the anxious tears away, "I am fine."

"I never want you to be used as leverage again, mon trésor," Olivier said to her. He grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it against the small cut on his daughters throat to stop the bleeding. He noticed that her clothes were womanly, which he believed that would eventually lead to disrespect from other pirates as she grew. He made the decision to only allow her to wear manly garments, to fool future-enemies, and make her be respected as the powerful pirate she was to become.

Hope you enjoyed! This chapter is supposed to be the event that caused Olivier to start making Annette wear "men's" clothes and turn her into the legend of being "Levasseur's Daughter" 🥳
Also, I referenced real-life pirates Anne Bonny, Calico Jack, and Mary Read! Their demise was met when the crew got too drunk to fight in October of 1720 and pushed sober Anne and Mary to the front lines, where they all got captured and eventually hung in Port Royal, or Kingston (except for Anne and Mary, they both claimed to be pregnant and Mary died in jail but it is believed that Anne escaped because there is no record of her execution). Anyways, I thought it would be interesting to have this event, and being given all that wine, be the reason why they all got captured!