Norrington's Darling

A Ship in a Bottle

POV: Zuri Norrington

I felt like getting so drunk I'd black out for days, and—judging from his face—Jack did, too. Barbossa looked well on his way to getting there. My stomach burned with fury I hadn't felt since I'd last laid eyes on Cutler Beckett. The last time I'd run into Blackbeard, I had come within inches of killing him, leaving him covered in plenty of scars from our duel.

"Blackbeard," Jack repeated. It sounded very much like he was trying his best not to punch Barbossa directly in the face. "Blackbeard has got my ship."

Slowly, Barbossa nodded.

"How did you lose her?" I demanded, doing my best to keep my voice soft. 

Barbossa sighed and took a long swig from his bottle. "Two weeks ago, we ran into Blackbeard off the coast of Hispaniola. We intended to skirt him by, or make a trade to garner his goodwill if it came to that." 

"So what went wrong?" asked Cedric, ever the strategist. I was again reminded strongly of his father.

Apparently, so were Gibbs and Barbossa. They stared at Cedric, only just now noticing his presence. 

"Great Scott—is that...is he your son?" Gibbs asked.

Cedric waved hello. "Uh, hi again. Been a while."

"He's the spitting image of his father, how can you not recognize him?" Jack demanded.

"It's been a while since we've set eyes on him, Jack," Barbossa reminded him. "What, fourteen years now?"

"Aye," Cedric said. 

"Oho! So he's not all gentleman like his father, ay?" laughed Gibbs.

Cedric bristled. "I am plenty gentleman enough," he snapped. 

"The Pearl," Jack said crisply, glaring at Barbossa. "What's happened to her?"

"You know what Blackbeard does, Jack," I said softly.

Baldly, Barbossa continued his story: "He very nearly sunk her, he did. Cannonball after cannonball, right into her side. Swooped down when we were all nearly dead and the ship was nearly blown to pieces. He's got a witch aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge—fixed her up and shrunk her into a bottle." He eyed Cedric, who didn't so much as flinch at the mention of a witch. "I take it your mother still practices magic, then, boy?"

I narrowed my eyes, motioning at Cedric not to reply. "How are you alive?"

Gibbs shrugged. "Blackbeard likes to be theatrical," he said bitterly. "So long as there are men left alive, his legend only grows and pirates grow more afraid of him."

"A wise tactic," Cedric sighed. 

"I need to get her back," Jack said softly.

"Jack, no," I said sternly. "There's no getting her back. She's lost to us, well and truly lost this time. No one has ever reversed Blackbeard's magic."

"What happened to the girl who wouldn't let the ship go when it was attacked by a Kraken?" Jack demanded. "Zuri, that ship is our home."

I sighed. "Jack—"

"You might have the Rose now, but it's not like the Black Pearl. No ship is like the Black Pearl."

"He's got a point there, Mrs. Norrington," Barbossa said. 

"Please, Zu."

I sighed, rubbing my temples. What would James do, what would James do? I'd been asking myself that question for years in these sticky places. Typically, I did not do what I knew James would have done. He would have kept Cedric safe. Going after Blackbeard was anything but safe, and Cedric would insist on coming with us, the way he'd always done.