Barbossa's Daughter

Chapter 41

Jack Sparrow had been more shocked than ever to see Hector Barbossa as a privateer in the Royal Navy. And he'd been angry to discover that his beloved Pearl had been sunk when Barbossa claimed to have lost his leg. He also found it suspicious when Barbossa had said that his daughter resided on land after the Pearl went down. Delia would never reside on land just as she would never let the Pearl sink.

Jack had then promptly escaped from the King's palace, leaving a rather angry Hector relying on Mr Gibbs as his map seeing as he'd destroyed the very navigational charts they'd been searching for whilst also trying to track down other myths that would free Will from his curse.

So they joined in the race for the Fountain of Youth alongside the Spanish and the fearsome pirate known as Blackbeard and his cunning daughter Angelica.

However, when Jack and Barbossa found themselves prisoners in the company of the Spanish who had already acquired the chalices needed to drink from the Fountain, Jack thought Barbossa's tale a tale no longer. For the privateer had told him exactly how the sea and the magic of Blackbeard had claimed their ship. And how he had never been so scared to lose his daughter that he had her hide away in Shipwreck Cove, the impenetrable fortress of the Court of which she ruled. She had put up a fight but until her father had ridden the seas of Blackbeard, the oceans were not safe for her.

And Jack Sparrow had believed him.

Which is why when Blackbeard was finally dead and the Spanish had fled after destroying the Fountain, Barbossa had taken Blackbeard's sword and proclaimed his ship as his own.

The remnants of Blackbeard's crew and the few Navy men who still wanted to follow Barbossa then followed him to the shore. Where not one ship waited for him but two.

The tale that he had told Jack was nothing more than a tale.

The Barbossas had survived so long at sea at the helm of a ship because they were smarter than those that would see them sunk.

And while Mr Gibbs had presented Jack with all the ships inside bottles that he'd stolen from the Queen Anne's Revenge with the help of Jack's compass, they thought they possessed the authentic item. For the Black Pearl inside that bottle, was nothing more than a fake.

They had heard many tales of Blackbeard making ships that would oppose him vanish from the sea, so they planned ahead. And they had created a decoy ship. A fake Pearl. And that be the Pearl that Blackbeard had imprisoned and that Jack Sparrow now possessed.

The real one was hidden safely at Shipwreck Cove with the Pirate King and her heir as they consulted all the myths and legends that were kept in that stronghold, searching for references to Poseidon's Trident.

But now that it was safe, now that Blackbeard was no more and the Revenge was under Barbossa captaincy, the Black Pearl sailed the seas once more. And it sat moored next to the Revenge as Cora grinned from the helm, her teenage son exploring their new acquisition and seeing if there was anything he'd like to keep for himself.

His family was a sight for sore eyes as his daughter smiled warmly at him as she welcomed her father with a hug.

"And the Barbossas have bested everyone else once more," she grinned as her father hugged her back, much better at balancing on his peg leg after his crutch was broken.

"Aye, we have, me Cora."

"Grandfather!" Henry called as he came bounding over from the doors that led below deck, dropping the treasures gathered in his arms as he hugged the old man, a golden crown on his head.

"Henry, me lad. It be good to see ya," he rasped as Henry pulled away and smiled at him.

"It's good to see ye too, Grandfather. I found something ye'll like," he said as he jogged back over to his pile of treasure and fished something out before jogging back over. And he presented Hector with a captain's hat accented with feathers, much like the very same one he had long ago. "I think ye'll be needing this, Captain Barbossa. Or is it Commodore?"

Cora put a hand on her son's shoulder. "I think Commodore has a nice ring to it."

And he took the hat as he stood tall and placed it on his head, something about it feeling so unbelievably right. Cora then stretched out her hand. "The helm be yers, Commodore Barbossa."

As he made his way there, Cora grinned at her son as they both went running for the rails, grabbing ropes as they swung over to the Pearl.

"All hands prepare to make way!" Henry ordered as he landed at the helm, his hands gripping the wheel as his mother stood at the balcony before it.

And they grinned at Hector as their ships began to move away from the shore of the island. As he raised his magical sword into the air, the ship's sails deployed by themselves as ropes tied and untied themselves as the Queen Anne's Revenge was spurred forward and Cora let out a laugh of pure enjoyment.

"Full Canvas!" Cora roared as their sails fell free and the ship lurched as the wind tugged them forward and they began to catch up with the Revenge.

Now that the seas were safe, and now with the two most powerful ships at their command, it was finally time to find a way to set Will free and break the curse of the Dutchman forevermore.